Ron Kaufmann — Life on the Rocks: The World of Rupicolous Orchids

Our speaker will be Ron Kaufmann, chair of the American Orchid Society Conservation Committee,

chair of the San Diego County Orchid Society Conservation Committee and a founding director of

the Orchid Conservation Alliance. Ron has been growing orchids for more than 25 years and has

travelled extensively to view orchids in the wild in Asia and South America, particularly Brazil,

Ecuador and Colombia. His talk titled "Life on the Rocks: The World of Rupicolous Orchids" will

explore the habits and habitats of orchids that grow on rocks, with a focus on Brazil. Rocky terrains

host a surprising number of orchid species, and the conditions in those settings are very different

from those that we normally consider when deciding how best to grow plants in our own collections.

Ron is a marine biologist by training, and his scientific work includes studies of Antarctic and

deep-sea ecosystems as well as marine communities in coastal Southern California. His orchid

collection began with a reedstem Epidendrum and progressed to a diverse assemblage that

contains mostly species orchids.

Ron has a long-standing interest in conservation and has been a member of the SDCOS

Conservation Committee for nearly 25 years and chair since 2004. Since 1991, the Conservation

Committee has awarded over $260,000 to support projects in 23 different countries. Ron also

helped to found the Orchid Conservation Alliance and serves on the boards of the OCA, Orchid

Digest, and Fundación EcoMinga (an Ecuadorian conservation organization).

Most of Ron’s orchids are grown in a 36 x 24 foot greenhouse and several outdoor shade-covered

areas around his house in San Diego. Friends have suggested that he build a second, much larger

greenhouse to accommodate the many plants that often make walking through his greenhouse an

exercise requiring extensive training in gymnastics and yoga to avoid serious injury. Thus far, this

recommendation hasn’t been followed, although the temptation is always there.