July 2016 General Meeting – Ron Parsons

Ron ParsonsWe are happy to welcome back Ron Parsons to speak on “Orchids of Southeastern Australia” and share with us the excellent photos taken on his trip.  Ron describes his Australian experience as follows: ‘For five weeks of the austral spring of 2011, from early October to mid-early November, I traveled through southeastern Australia. My trip started on the island state of Tasmania (the north and northwest part) where friends took me out to see and photograph orchids I would not have found on my own. From there I traveled to Victoria where I was taken to Grampians National Park in the west, the Anglesea Peninsula west of Melbourne, and Wilson’s Promontory to the southeast of Melbourne, where again many exciting orchids were found. Next stop was Canberra for a few days, then to areas both north and south of Sydney in New South Wales where many fantastic ground, lithophytic and epiphytic orchids were seen. My incredible trip ended with several days spent on the beautiful isle of Bruny Island, southeast of the capitol of Hobart, an island off an island off an island!’ 

Ron is considered by many to be one of the finest flower photographers in the United States. His photography and encyclopedic knowledge of orchids is known both nationally and internationally. He has been photographing orchids, wildflowers, and almost every other kind of plant for over 25 years, and he has taken thousands of photos of orchids, wildflowers and other rare plants.

Ron has been growing orchids for more than 40 years and has been interested in and has grown species for most of that time. Ron loves to photograph orchids and other flowers whenever he can, whether it be in trips to see them in nature or in collections. Ron has nearly 60,000 digital images, most of which are orchids, and still retains a slide library that exceeds 100,000 botanical images. He has over 3000 published photos that have appeared in magazines, periodicals, journals and books. Ron has co-authored three botanical books, all with Mary Gerritsen. The first two, published by Timber Press, are Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World and Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives. Most recently, the third book, a large, luxurious 2-volume set A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species was published by RedFern Natural History Productions. The latter has nearly 1200 pages, 1800 photographs and features more than 500 species.

Ron’s visit is being co-sponsored by POS and SDCOS. He will speak to SDCOS on Tuesday evening about Stanhopeas and interested members are invited to attend his talk in Balboa Park.  The general meeting starts at 7:30 pm in room 101.