Story behind the art of Daleen Roodt

29th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators

Cinderella's Wonderland

Eulophia micrantha

Common name: Small flowered Cinderella orchid 
Family: Orchidaceae
Habitat: Coastal Lowlands and Strandveld
Flowers: September to December.
Status : Least concern, protected.

One morning in November, as glowing rays of early summer broke through the hilltop restios, I set out to paint the endemic South African orchid Acrolophia micrantha. Commonly, it is called the small-flowered Cinderella orchid. This robust terrestrial was discovered in 2024 in the Walker Bay Conservation Area, growing wildly and well-disguised amongst the hard-leaved shrubs of coastal Strandveld vegetation. When I had seen it the previous year, it had already formed seedpods, so I was delighted this season to find four branched inflorescences covered in tiny little flowers! 

Acrolophia is a genus consisting of seven species endemic to South Africa. A. micrantha is one of only two of the seven that have oil-secreting glands that produce reward for the pollinator, although the pollinator is yet to be identified.

As I sat eye-level with the plant, an ecological wonderland soon started unfolding around me. At first, the hypnotic buzz of a honeybee, tranquilly going about her ‘businezz’ pollinating the purply-blue, ultraviolet rush viooltjie (Lachenalia juncifolia). The calming resonance did well to transport me into a meditative state of creation. At some point I paused to film her movement. Then, suddenly, something big caught my eye – the stoic, tripod gait of a toktokkie beetle! I followed it, with my camera, marching along its way, shifting some strands of grass to clear the way. Then, through my camera screen, I saw how its tiny little jaws opened wide, and watched it pierce right into my finger just behind the nail, and with a shriek I pulled away, only to notice the two little drops of blood beading from my ring finger! Territory acknowledged, by the drawing of blood!

As the morning hours passed, progressively more insects started making their presence known: black ants trailing up an orchid stem to collect oil from the flower glands; the tiniest little grey-shelled black snail, carefully investigating the scene; a very energetic polka-dotted insect busily scurrying around; a monkey beetle briefly landing on a downy drumstick (though not long enough for my camera to focus... Later, by a process of elimination based on the exact measurements of its landing post as well as my visual memory, it was possible to identify the exact species.) As my sketching progressed, so did the competition by surrounding fauna to be noticed.

Insects of all sorts took turns to walk over my (in progress!) drawing – a tiny, green little inchworm with microscopic hairs; an even smaller little shield bug, putting major effort into making very little distance; and even, once again, my friend the Toktokkie! The top candidate for “audition” was an adorable little wattle seed weevil that landed on my page, made a few slow turns for the camera, then dramatically opened its wing castings, spread out wide its iridescently glistening wings, and flew off snout in the air with dangling little legs, looking classic and like an insect impersonation of “Chitty-chitty Bang-bang”!

One sample of dried plant material that I collected had a strange looking, almost stereotypical black-and-yellow “smiley-face” casing of an immobile insect. It was too interesting to ignore, even though I obliviously thought it was dead. Days later, back in my studio, my attention was fixated on a hitchhiker bagworm that made the journey home, until I noticed some peculiar movement. To my astonishment, from the smiling case now shredding up in tiny little folds, I observed the emergence of the most beautiful golden yellow lunate lady beetle! My curiosity had me investigate the life cycle of a ladybug, only to find that the energetic polka-dotted critter was in fact the larva, the “smiley-face” its pupa, and just like that, I was witnessing the metamorphosis of a lady beetle! 

Despite the lack of any known pollinator, the surrounding ecological community truly made their presence known. They educated me, mesmerized me, and sometimes even put me in my place. The least I could give in return was a tip of the hat, and consequently, 15 marvelous little creatures, alongside seven plant species, all made their way into the painting, setting the scene for one special orchid! Perhaps some sort of an ecological “Where is Wally?” situation. For now, we all still wonder where, and who, the elusive pollinator could be…

I named the painting “Cinderella’s Wonderland”. I painted it in watercolor on vellum, which allowed me to portray an exceptional amount of detail, sometimes only noticeable under magnification, and, as vellum does, to offer a lively glow to this thriving ecosystem. 

This artwork forms part of a series of indigenous orchids painted for Coot Club Boutique Hotel in the Western Cape, South Africa. Profits from limited-edition print sales help Coot Club Foundation continue their ongoing conservation work to protect these rare and endangered orchids and other fynbos species.  

List of organisms included in the artwork
Insects:
1. Honeybee (Apis mellifera capensis)
2. Toktokkie/ Toktok Beetle (Psammodes striatus)
3. Black ants x4 (Formicidae)
4. Inchworm (Geometridae)
5. Bagworm (Typhonia sp.)
6. Little snail (?)
7. Lunate lady beetle (Cheilomenes lunata)
8. Lady beetle pupa
9. Lady beetle larva
10. Shield bug (Pentatomoidea)
11. Monkey beetle (Pachycnema crassipes)
12. Wattle seed weevil (Melanterius)

Plants:
1. Acrolophia micrantha (Small flowered Cinderella orchid)
2. Lachenalia juncifolia (Rush viooltjie)
3. Zaluzianskya villosa (Downy drumsticks)
4. Nemesia affinis (Common lionface)
5. (Moraea bulbillifera) Bulblet Capetulp 
6. Oxalis sp. (Sorrel family)
7. Manulea Cheiranthus (Spider Fingerflox)

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