Our monthly meetings are a forum for sharing knowledge and experience in all aspects of gardening and horticulture. Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month at 7:30pm, usually near Griffith Park (unless noted). We enthusiastically welcome new members, so please drop by.

This event is free to SCHS members and $5 for non-members. Children under 18 are free. Ample onsite free parking is available.

 

Next Meeting:

Thursday, February 9, 2012, at 7:30pm

Guest Presenter:

Zsolt Debreczy

Program:

Conifers Around the World

In 1975, dendrologist Zsolt Debreczy and nature photographer István Rácz (then still a university student) set themselves a wildly ambitious and never before accomplished goal: to seek out and document all the conifers in the world's temperate zones and their adjacent regions. To make it even more challenging they wanted to record them in their most pristine natural habitats. The two spent the next 30 years, with the eventual assistance of over a hundred nature-loving volunteers, generous financial supporters, and field associates from countless regional and local institutes and organizations (including our Society’s own Kathy Musial from the Huntington Botanical Gardens).

Debreczy and Rácz spent an astounding almost 2,000 days (over five continuous years) in the field hunting down conifers. They were able to visit and document the world's most inaccessible conifer taxa and to include the accompanying flora and vegetation in their research. Along with the collection of 340,000 photographs they compiled their exacting documentation has become the new voluminous Conifers Around the World. In this astounding two volume book they present more than 500 species of conifers in 56 genera, including several that were new to science.

Dendrology is the study of trees and other woody plants and Zsolt Debreczy, our February guest speaker, is Research Director of the International Dendrological Research Institute, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, a position he has held since 1990. The 64 year old holds a Ph.D. in biology and began his career as curator of the higher plant collection at the Botanical Department of the Natural History Museum in Budapest, Hungary. Beginning in 1988, he spent three years as a Mercer Fellow and Visiting Scientist at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. In 1991 he became Research Director of the Massachusetts-based (USA) International Dendrological Research Institute, Inc. (IDRI), and in 1994 was a founding member of the International Dendrological Foundation.

In his guest presentation, Zsolt will feature one conifer from each of the 11 chapters of his book and discuss the extensive fieldwork that went into documenting them as part of the Dendrological Documentation Project.

Location: Friendship Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Click here for a map to Friendship Auditorium.

Upcoming Meetings – mark your Calendar now! Meetings are held on the second Thursday of the month, unless noted otherwise.

2012 Schedule

February 9 – Zsolt Debreczy will discuss his new book, Conifers Around the World. Book sale and signing.

March 8 – Chip Sullivan will present The Floral Imperative.

April 12 – Iris Forum, a panel led by John Schoustra.