Contents of latest Issue

June 2002  (Vol.14 No.3)

THIS MONTH'S FEATURES:

HamelwellsaraAussie Quest 'Oakridge' AD/AOC (2001)  

(Front cover)introduces an article on the Awarded Zygopetalum alliance for 2001.  Hybridizing has introduced allied genera into the family but the Zygo. holds sway over the progeny.    Text by the AOC Registrar General of Judging. There are five other photosaccompanying the article.

The World Orchid Conference preliminary report.

AOC Board member, Ian Duncan of Perth, rushed back from the WOC to provide us with a preliminary report on the Conference held in Malaysia in April/May.  Ian reports some of the major results and a photo, courtesy of Ian Chalmers, of the AOC display, which took third prize in its section.  More reports are coming in our August issue.  Linked to this are some words from the AOC President, Murray Aldridge, about the work behind the scenes by the AOC and its members.

VALE: Ron Pearce 1915 - 2002

Ron Pearce was a dedicated orchid grower for almost 70 years.  Well known and respected in the orchid community, he had begun growing orchids in 1934 in his father's orchard in Blackburn.  He was a long time member of the Victorian Orchid Club and the Australian Orchid Foundation. 

Robert Brown - Pioneer of systematic botany in Australia

Colin Jennings has been on one of his history excursions again, delving this time into the life of Robert Brown, a botanist born in 1773 and a member of the Matthew Flinders expedition aboard the sloopInvestigator.  Brown died in London in 1858 with little or no recognition.  A friend of the famous Joseph Banks, who persuaded Brown to take up the appointment of naturalist to an expedition then about to head for New Holland.  He recorded the plants in a number of regions in Western Australia, the mainland and islands off South Australiam New South Wales, Tasmania and the islands off Tasmania.  The results of his discoveries were published inProdromus florae Novae Hollandiae, in London in 1810. Five photographs of terrestrial orchids described by Brown accompany the article.

Recent Cymbidium Seedlings (Part 1)

Cymbidium grower Peter Chiles looks at what has been happening in the world of new Cymbidium hybrids recently.  This story is accompanied by 10 photographs.  Part 2 will be published in our August issue.

Challenges of Growing Paphiopedilums in Tasmania

Rex Johnson visits David and Coralie Best of Launceston, Tasmania, who share their culture methods for Paphs. with us.  David grows his Paphs. in sphagnum moss in the bottom half of softdrink bottles, and waters by a drip system. It works!  David and Coralie have just had a plant ofPaph. dianthum'Belinda' awarded an AM/AOC.

Odontoglossum Intergenerics - a reqarding family of orchids

Gary Hart of the Sydney suburb of Caringbah relates his delight in growing this fascinating group of orchids.  At the same time he displays his skill as a photographer. 

AOC Awarded Plants 2002

You asked for it, so here it is.  In each issue we will be publishing details of the latest AOC Awards that have been finalised.  Note that In this issue the list is short and covers January to March.  There will always be a lag time between making an award and publication. One of the reasons for this is the 6 to 8 weeks lead-in time in preparing each issue ofOrchid Australia.

Calanthe vestita

Colin Jennings rediscovers this old favourite.  Two great photographs, including a full page.

Australian Orchid Foundation now on the Web

We have added information on the work and projects of the Australian Orchid Foundation to this website, and you can visit this special section from our Main Menu.   While the Australian Orchid Council Inc. and the Australian Orchid Foundation Inc. are two separate organizations, our work is complementary.  We are delighted to provide the AOF with space on our website.

Life-long attachment to Greenhood orchids

Townsville nurseryman, Ian Walters, delves back into his early years and relates his fascinating with the native orchids of Australia.

Australian Bug helps Restore Everglades

Back in February 1999 issue ofOrchids Australiawe printed an article about the introduction of Melaleuca species from Australia into Florida to drain water logged parts of the Everglades to provide land for development.  In so doing the developers caused the destruction of the naturally occurring habitat timbers, such as Cedar, the natural hosts for native orchids.  Now we are providing the 'antidote' too.

Just Browsing... with Colin Jennings

Colin has been doing some more reading of old orchid publications from the UK, including The Orchid Review.  These snippets provide a fascinating insight into the world of orchid collecting and growing 100+ years ago. 

Book Reviews:

A to Z of South East Asian Orchid Species, by Peter O'Byrne

The book review this month has been provided by Des Pike of Darwin.  The book has been published by the Orchid Society of South East Asia of Singapore.  The author is a well known orchidist in many parts of the world.  

Plus… - 

All the regular features of Computer Corner,  what's winning at Shows around the country, Cultural Notes for various parts of Australia, and our list of upcoming International orchid events through to 2005. There is also a surprise for some lucky Australian subscriber - Orchids Australia free for one year, provided it is claimed in 14 days.