Meeting:

August 12, 2010

Guest Presenter:

Dylan Hannon

Program:

Springtime in the Atacama

A rare look at the wildflowers, cacti and natural history of one of the world’s driest deserts, the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. This region, in spite of scant rainfall  (“good rains” fall only every 4 or 5 years) harbors many endemic plants that are adapted to the coastal zone south of the regional capital, Antofagasta. Coastal hills reach about 3000 feet elevation and canyons harbor many of the more interesting species. This trip, in August 1997, was during an El Nino year and Dylan was fortunate to see annuals, bulbs and a few shrubs in addition to clean and plump specimens of various cacti: Copiapoa, Neochilenia, etc. Other genera of note include Tropaeolum, Nicotiana, Lycopersicon, Nolana, Oxalis and Argylia.

Dylan Hannon is Curator of Conservatory Collections at The Huntington. Since 2003 his work there has focused on building collections of tropical plants for the Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science. Former experience includes botanical consulting, research and commercial nursery work. His interests include photography, writing and growing and propagating bulbs and succulents.