You may have noticed a theme throughout my illustrations, that I like to draw the plant “fairies”, the more-than-human beings who inhabit the world alongside us.

This was the first I’d drawn for a while, but was reminded of them upon visiting a botanical garden in Xalapa, México, with Leo, whose family look after a Cloud forest in the middle of the city (yep, really! Read more about it here).

She’s a Selaginella, who is part of the Lycophyte clade of primitive vascular plants. I like these creatures because they come between Bryophytes (moss!💚) and vascular plants in evolutionary history. Selaginella lepidophylla is known as “the resurrection plant” as she can completely dry out and come back to life again. All she needs is a drink of water!

Fine liner pen and watercolour.