Peninsula Orchid Society

Peninsula Orchid Society Speakers Schedule: January 25, 2008

Orchids of Crete

Ron Parsons

Ron Parsons 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 has a slide collection that numbers well over 80,000 slides! Ron loves to travel, photograph orchids and wildflowers in situ, visit orchid and other plant enthusiasts collections, and most of all, to take photographs of plants and flowers that he likes. Ron's photos have been featured in journal articles, book covers and in many different books. His photography was recently featured in two books that he co-authored: Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World (by Mary Gerritsen and Ron Parsons. Timber Press 2005); and Calochortus: Mariposa Lilies and Their Relatives (Mary Gerritsen and Ron Parsons, Timber Press 2007). Ron and Mary are now working on a third book, Rare and Unusual Orchid Species. Of course, to feature rare and unusual orchid species requires lots of field research, and one of Ron's field trips is the subject of this lecture.

Crete, the largest of the Greek islands, is situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. This beautiful island is approximately 250 kilometers long and 56 kilometers wide at most and only 12 kms wide at its narrowest point. The island is like a giant rock garden, with many beautiful plants (and far too many goats!) growing in its stony soils. Many of these are endemic to the island. Where the orchids are found, they can be very numerous in both species and quantity. There are more than 60 species of orchids here, many of them very variable, several with regional subspecies. There are lots of natural hybrids also, making identification difficult. This talk features the orchids (as well as some of the other beautiful wildflowers) seen on a trip there in the middle of April, 2007.

For more information about Ron and his photography, and to see more of his photographs, please see Ron's website: http://www.flowershots.net/