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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · 10h

Had a excellent weekend painting a #botanicalillustration of a penny bun #boletus edulis #Fungi & a Rosy button one, and chatting to Fungitown visitors in Hay. My mate filmed me at work in a borrowed (appropriately themed) shirt. #sciart

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · 4d

Had an amazing day at #Fungitown in #HayonWye today, sat upstairs painting this gorgeous pink-flushed Rosy bonnet #mushroom, Mycena rosea.

So many fascinating people to talk to , and so much sharing of #fungal inspiration and ideas. A privilege to be there

Come and say hi
,from 10 - 4pm tomorrow.

Photo of the speciemen of the rosy bonnet fungus, looking a little the worse for wear, alongside my illustration of it on a sheet of white paper. The mushroom has a pinkish brown silky cap, pale gills and a pale stipe flushed pink. Both specimen and illustrations have soil and moss and bits of dead leaf on the stipe.

My illustration of the Rosy bonnet #mushroom, cut to white #watercolor #sciart #botanicalillustration completed in #hayonwye. The mushroom has a pinkish brown silky cap, pale gills and a pale stipe flushed pink. The soil and moss and bits of dead leaf on the stipe have also been illustrated.

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

Martin A. Nuñez @martin-nunez.bsky.social · 10d

New paper!
I am excited about it, since it has some very cool contributions on:
-Status of Invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi
-Definition of what is a invasive mycorhizal 🍄
-Cool picture of trees being brought from Europe in 1920!
Lead by @nahpo.bsky.social! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi: belowground insights from South America

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are essential for nutrient cycling and plant symbiosis, yet their invasions remain understudied, particularly in South America. Large-scale forestry introductions have spr...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · 6d

This weekend, Hay on Wye hosts #Fungitown.

www.fungitown.org.uk

There are talks, walks, films, and stalls in #Hay Castle (where I'll be selling #fungus prints, drawing, and selling originals of my animal and #botanicalillustrations from 10 - 4 on sat 4th and sun 5th October)

Come and visit!

Cut to white #sciart #botanicalillustration of the fly agaric #Amanita muscaria. Red cap with white remnant flakes of the universal veil, pale stipe with annulus, and the base complete with bits of grass and grains of soil. The cap is a shiny orange red.

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · 7d

Thankyou it was a real treat to do.

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · 8d

Sorting prints and original #illustrations for @fungitownhay in #hayonwye this weekend.

Looking forward to drawing & painting #fungus in Hay castle, sharing sketchbooks, chatting to visitors, and selling original botanical, animal, and fungal illustrations to all mycologically minded visitors.

Assortment of prints of fungus on my desk red abd white fly agaric, an assrmblage of edible Fungi, some holly parachute tiny hlass light mushrooms growing on a browned Holly leaf, a line drawing of elf cap fungus growing in a bed of moss. You can see my tubes of watercolour paints and my pencil box too. #sciart #botanicalillustration #fungus #fungitown @fungitown

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · 12d

This is Purple #toadflax #Linaria purpurea, it's a common enough plant, but one that benefits from a closer look.

Like most wild flowers, the closer you look, the more amazing details and structure, not to mention nuances of colour, you see.

#purple ##linariapurpurea #botanicalillustration#

Detail of cut to white illustration of #Purpletoadflax Linaria purpurea, showing a portion of the flowering stem with seed heads as well as the distinctive flowers which have a wide lower lip, two lower side lips, a bilobed upper lip, and a "tail", all of which are a deep blue purple. #sciart

Detail of cut to white illustration of #Purpletoadflax Linaria purpurea, showing a portion of the vegetative stem. Leaves are linear, and in a turret. Upper leaves are a bright yellow green, lower ones a blue green.

Full illustration and detail of cut to white illustration of #Purpletoadflax Linaria purpurea, showing flowring stem with deep purple flowers. vegetative stem with yellowish top and blueinsh lower leaves, and a close up of the distinctively shaped bilateral and lobed purple flowers.

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · 20d

New step by step botanical illustration film out:

youtu.be/BrhlvsnfYEc

This one shows me painting a Cosmos flower, and explains the materials and processes involved

Make a cup of tea and take a look?

#stepbystep #botanicalillustration #cosmos

Cosmos step by step botanical illustration

YouTube video by Lizzie Harper

youtu.be

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · 27d

This is a sprig of #Silverbirch #Betula pendula I painted years ago

I was messing about on photoshop, and just like the way it looked with unattached leaves.

Something as inconspicuous as a twig with #leaves can make a really interesting and challenging subject.

#botanicalillustration #sciart

Silver birch sprid on white paper, showing several catkins and pairs of leaves, pointing from right to left on the page. There are 4 loose leaves at the base of the sheet, and two in the upper right hand corner. This makes it look a bit like the leaves are fluttering down to earth after being blown off the twig in the wind.

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

TeePee Cider @teepeecider.bsky.social · Sep 4

Apples fall from when ripe due of 2 hormones auxin & ethylene with apposing effects on the abscission zone AZ in the stem Auxin from the fruit pips stops this. Ethylene from the fruit flesh stops auxin production The apple falls after the cell walls in the AZ dissolve No one told this tree! #apples

Apple tree in Spring with last years apples!

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · Sep 5

This week's blog is about illustrating a #wildflower meadow for a seed #packagingdesign:

lizzieharper.co.uk/2025/09/wild...

It discusses creating roughs, #watercolor technique, layout considerations, & how I do a commercial #botanicalillustration by hand for the client.

Detailed pencil drawing of flowers in a field with insects for a wildflower seed packet design. Species include poppy, corn marigold, corncockle, cornflower, common honey bees, and red tailed bumble bee as pollinators. There's an acetate overlay with design elements like logos and the company and flower name. #sciart

Illustration in progress, and the photo shows my hand holding a watercolour paintbrush as I work on the fur of a red tailed bumble bee. The flowers are yet to have colour added. the leaves and grass are outlined in green but do not yet have much body colour. the bee is flying over two large poppies and a bed of small daisy-like corn chamomile flowers. Species include poppy, corn marigold, corncockle, cornflower, common honey bees, and red tailed bumble bee as pollinators.

Work in progress, again showing my hand with a paintbrush as I work on this watercolour landscape of a meadow full of wild flowers. The poppies, insects, corn cockle, and chamonmile and marigolds are all coloured in. The only flowers remaining as white paper are the blue cornflowers. It's a very vibrant illustration with thew red tailed bumblebee as the focus. Species include poppy, corn marigold, corncockle, cornflower, common honey bees, and red tailed bumble bee as pollinators.

Super saturated seed packet design featuring a wild flower meadow with poppy, corn marigold, corncockle, cornflower, common honey bees, and red tailed bumble bee as pollinators. The acetate design overlay has the wrong text, but shows where the logos and species names sit. #sciart

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · Aug 28

Excited to be part of #Fungitown in #HayonWye this Oct 3rd - 5th

Fungi Town 2025 | Explore Fungi Events Now www.fungitown.org.uk

Ill be selling prints & original illustrations of plants and animals; & hope to draw fungus too.

Come along!

#fungusday #fungus #sciart #botanicalillustration

#sciart #botanicalillustration of #fungus by Lizzie Harper, to promote her selling art at

Fungi Town 2025 | https://www.fungitown.org.uk/

This cut to white illustration shows the purple #brittlegill #russula atropurpurea growing from a substrate of pine needles. The stipe is white, the cap and deep crimson with a little damage revealing pale gills. There is a second smaller brittlegill next to the main one.

#fungusday #hayonwye

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · Aug 22

This is the #Adonisblue #Polyommatus bellargus #butterfly. The #insect is an incredible glowing blue, and seeing them in life (in France) was an amazing treat. This #sciart #naturalscienceillustration was completed for a #packagingdesign on chinaware

Adonis blue Polyommatus bellargus butterfly cut to white illustration, shown on a diagonal angle. Watercolour by lizzie harper

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · Aug 15

New blog is on a plant found on the #Caribbean island of #Montserrat: #Pribby.

lizzieharper.co.uk/2025/08/prib...

Pribby #Rondeletia buxifolia won me over by combining an unassuming appearance (it looks like a privet hedge) with its' #criticallyendangered status.

#botanicalillustration #sciart

Pribby: A Montserrat endemic - Lizzie Harper

Pribby: A Montserrat endemic gives an overview of this unusual and lovely plant from Montserrat with Lizzie's botanical sketchbook studies

lizzieharper.co.uk

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · Aug 8

Def a tatdigrade

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · Aug 8

Hey Emma, drawing & painting nature is my job, but youre so right about it being what the brain needs. That concentration and getting lost in the flow is such a safe space to be, specially if youre able to shelve any worries about what the final pic looks like. Love & luck in your recovery xx

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · Aug 8

This is my #sciart #illustration of a #Darkgreenfritillary #butterfly #Argynnis (or #Speyeria) aglaja.

They have orange upper wings, the green is only on the underside (with by silvery spots)

The food plant is pansies & violets. They're strong fliers, so can be hard to see clearly unless at rest.

Illustration of the Dark green fritillary butterfly, Argynnis aglaja. It's cut to white and shows the butterfly facing right, with wings folded, showing the underwings. These are spotted with silver and green, although the background colour is beige. This green explains the butterfly's name. The body is brownish with yellow and green compound eyes and brown antennae tipped with orange. You can just see a suggestion of the butterfly's long tongue, curled up.

This #naturalscienceillustration was competed for a china ware company along with 5 other #naturalhistory illustrations of #entomology subjects, and will feature on 6 or 7 designs of homeware.

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

Oregon State University Botany and Plant Pathology @osubpp.bsky.social · Aug 6

The Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University is Hiring!

We are searching for a Director of the Oregon State University Herbarium and applications are welcomed at the ranks of assistant, associate, or full professor.

Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University is hiring a Directory of the Herbarium

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

MSU Plant Resilience Institute @msupri.bsky.social · Aug 7

Join us at the 1st Great Lakes Plant Science Conference, featuring talks from rising plant scientists across disciplines, 200+ poster presentations, & professional development opportunities! #GLPSC2025 #PlantScience

📅 Sept 12–14, 2025 in Lansing, MI
⏳ Register by Aug 31: research.msu.edu/glpsc2025

A graphic promoting GLPSC 2025 with a background image of blurred leaves and an outline of the Great Lakes. The text at the top says, "1st Great Lakes Plant Science Conference, September 12-14, 2025, the Lansing Center, Lansing, MI.” In a blue rectangle, there is a QR code and the text, “Last Change! Register by August 31, 2025 at: research.msu.edu/glpsc2025.” Below, the text says, “Organized by 10 universities around the Great Lakes to push the boundaries of plant science, promote collaborations, and empower the next-generation plant science leaders. Hosted by Michigan State University and the Plant Resilience Institute." The logos of the following participating institutions are at the bottom: Michigan State University, Plant Resilience Institute, Indiana University, Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Chicago, University of Guelph, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan, University of Toronto, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

Yasin Dagdas @plantophagy.bsky.social · Aug 7

Junior #GroupLeader position @mpipz.bsky.social
on Plant Development & Diversity ‼️ #plantsci www.mpipz.mpg.de/5697690/job_...

Group leader (m/f/d) | Plant Development and Diversity

The successful applicant will be expected to build an independent research group to study plant development and/or its natural variation.

www.mpipz.mpg.de

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · Aug 5

Heliconiini butterfly larvae (Heliconius & kin) have a taste for Passiflora, which has evolved several lines of defense, including this one: Spots on P. boenderi that resemble butterfly eggs & making the leaves appear “occupied” so that gravid females look elsewhere. #Passifloraceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

: Close-up photo of bilobed leaves. Each lobe has a silvery midvein. Between the two midveins are a scattering of yellow spots. Photo by Scott Zona CCBYNC2.

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator @lizzie-harper.bsky.social · Aug 7

Gorgeous

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

Zachary Stavrou - Dowd @zstavdowd.bsky.social · Aug 7

Just out: LSTM’s blog post on our latest paper exploring how nitisinone kills malaria mosquitoes, even the resistant ones, through tarsal contact.

From rare disease drug to vector control tool.

@aacostaserrano.bsky.social

📄 Paper: doi.org/10.1186/s130...

#malaria #vectorcontrol #entomology #HPPD

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

Carrie Pratt @carrieonbeetle.bsky.social · Aug 7

Live in Ontario? Love bugs and forests?
I’m a U of T Scarborough researcher studying microbiomes of wood-feeding wasps & moths—differences in natives vs invasives & roles in forest disease.
Catch & freeze suspects. DM with questions!
#Entomology #Microbiome #Ontario #InvasiveSpecies #ForestHealth

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Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator

Torsten Dikow @tdikow.bsky.social · Aug 6

#JobAlert #NatHist Smithsonian natural history museum is searching for 4 Museum Specialists in Entomology - 1 = Heteroptera coll, 2 = general coll management, 1 = informatics + data - deadline Aug 19 - 1 year (may be extended based on funds availability)

trustcareers.si.edu/postings/a15...

photo of USNM entomology collection and cabinets

tingid bug on pin (Allotingis immaculata Drake & Hambleton, 1934, holotype)

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