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Overview
In her introductions to these books, Adams provides beautiful descriptions of several alpine locations around the country – including the Tararua Range, Canterbury, Taranaki, and Fiordland National Park – and suggests where and when mountain flowers might be found in these areas. She encourages readers to explore these ecosystems with care and admiration:
Please remember that in many places the mountain plants are protected and are not to be gathered. To sketch or photograph them is a pleasurable way of recording their beauty.
The watercolour illustrations and line drawings in these books are accompanied by rich and engaging text describing the flowers’ colour variations, habitat preferences, seasonal growth patterns, and how they may have gotten their common names. These descriptions evoke both the precise scientific accuracy and the warm, whimsical accessibility that was also the hallmark of Adams’ illustrative style.
This watercolour can be found on page 21 of Mountain Flowers of New Zealand (1965) and on page 70 of Mountain Flowers in New Zealand, illustrating a species of eyebright, Euphrasia cuneata.
In Adams’ 1965 and 1980 descriptions, she writes:
"The New Zealand euphrasias or eyebrights have dainty white flowers, except for Euphrasia cockayniana, which is clear yellow. Most eyebrights have some yellow on the petals and are often veined with purple.
Euphrasia cuneata is one of the prettiest and most abundant mountain flowers on the volcanic plateau, where it was sketched in March."