November 2020 – Ken Jacobson (online presentation)

Our November 3rd Joint General POS/SDCOS Meeting will be at 7:30 pm. with our speaker, Ken Jacobson, who will talk about  the group of Brazilian orchids formerly known as the Oncidium crispum group and hybrids made from these orchids.  

The Onc. crispum complex includes Onc. praetextum, Onc. curtum and Onc. gravesianum and all are now referenced as synonyms of Onc. crispum, but are kept separate as the individuals have been know as separate species for years (Jay Pfahl, www.orchidspecies.com). 

To make matters even more complex, the genus of these species has been changed to Gomesa and Onc. crispum, itself, is now under the name Gomesa imperatoris-maximil- liani in the Orchid Wiz and Orchid Roots  databases.

In addition to the individual species and the direct descendants of those species, Ken will cover more complex hybrids derived from the species.  A fair amount of time will be spent discussing culture, and how these plants can be grown successfully in the California coastal areas.

Ken was first introduced to orchids by his uncle in the 1960’s and has been growing orchids for well over 50 years. His collection includes Cymbidiums, Oncidiums, Odontoglossums, Lycastes, Cattleyas, Laelias, Masdevallias and several other genera.

Ken and his wife, Amy, enjoy traveling to all areas of the world where orchids are grown, visiting the local growers, and seeing various species in the wild. Together, Amy and Ken have over 7000 orchids. Ken is a judge in the AOS judging program and the CSA judging program, and is currently an AOS trustee. Amy is a judge in the AOS judging program. This should be a very informative talk and we encourage all to join us. The Zoom link will be sent with the email announcing the newsletter and will be the same as last  month's link.