Peninsula Orchid Society

Peninsula Orchid Society Speakers Schedule: August 25, 2006

Cythia Hill

"Stars of Asia: The Genus Ceologyne"

Cynthia grew up in St. Louis, earned at Bachelors degree in Biology at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and worked in technical sales and marketing in the biotechnology field. She has been an enthusiastic orchid hobbyist for over 30 years, focusing on species. Favorite genera in her collection are Dendrobium, Holcoglossum, Coelogyne, Paphiopedilum; she has a special fondness for strange miniatures, especially those, like Trichoceros, that mimic insects. Plants she has raised have received the highest awards from the AOS for flower quality and cultural excellence, including Paphiopedilum rothschildianum 'RajahKumis' FCC/AOS and Dendrobium hercoglossum 'Solana Beach' CCE/AOS, which also received the Benjamin Kodama Award for most outstanding example of the Dendrobium Alliance. Her plant of Cochlioda vulcanica 'Ganesh' was recently named Reserve Grand Champion at the New York International Orchid Show.

Cynthia has traveled on exploring trips to the islands of the Philippines and Indonesia, to Thailand, China, Japan, Australia, Antarctica, Peru, and to Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo, where she observed orchids and Nepenthes in situ. She is a member of the San Francisco Orchid Society, has served on the conservation committee of the AOS and San Diego County Orchid Society, is an AOS probationary judge, and is Acting Editor of Orchid Digest magazine.