Rhodophyta

A single specimen. White background. Nothing else.

This is Rhodophyta — red algae, one of the oldest divisions of algae on Earth, with a fossil record stretching back over a billion years. Found in the waters surrounding Stewart Island/Rakiura, where the cold, clear southern sea supports some of the most diverse marine flora in New Zealand.

The name is misleading. Out of the water, away from the particular wavelengths of light that reveal its pigments, Rhodophyta presents in warm browns and tawny golds — earthy, quiet, botanical. It is only underwater, or under specific light, that the reds and purples the phylum is named for emerge. This is a species that keeps its most vivid self private.

This one was washed up by the Easterly — driven in on the swell that tests every mooring at Halfmoon Bay, that carves the foreshore, that shakes the foundations and then, when it's done, leaves the most extraordinary things behind on the sand.

Pressed and presented in the manner of a classical botanical illustration, this piece lets the form speak entirely for itself. The branching structure. The delicate fronds. The particular elegance of a living thing that has been perfecting its design for longer than most life on Earth has existed.

Clean. Precise. Ancient.

Fits beautifully in a study, a library, or anywhere that appreciates the quiet authority of something truly old.

What you're bringing home:

• Museum-quality, fade-resistant print — every branch and frond of this ancient species, preserved
• Hand-stretched over solid wood stretcher bars
• 1.25″ thick poly-cotton blend canvas (344 g/m²)
• Mounting brackets included — ready to hang
• A2 — 16″×24″ (40.6 × 61 cm)

Want the original? Hand-signed editions (NZ$360–NZ$900) are available exclusively at our Stewart Island gallery.

Take a little piece of the island home.
Island steady. World ready.

In compliance with the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), this product is manufactured by EASTERLY LIMITED (hello@easterly.kiwi | 6 Petersons Hill Road, 9818, Stewart Island, New Zealand) and represented in the EU by SINDEN VENTURES LIMITED (Markou Evgenikou 11, Mesa Geitonia, 4002, Limassol, Cyprus | gpsr@sindenventures.com). All consumer products meet EU safety standards.