ORCHID PROGRAMS
BY
LEON GLICENSTEIN


The programs are in PowerPoint. I will bring the program on my lap top [a Dell Inspiron 1501], the society has to supply the Digital Projector. Programs take about 45 minutes, give or take.

Most of the programs are about seeing orchids growing in habitat in their respective countries. Specific cultural information is not the aim of the programs, although it can be inferred from where and how they are growing. However, specific cultural questions can be discussed in the Q&A after the program or personally with me. Cultural practices are given for the " habenaria", and "jewel" and "painted-leaved orchid" programs.

 All images [except for the Jewel and Painted-leaf Orchids and Habenaria programs] taken in situ.

Orchids in Pennsylvania:
Native orchids of Pennsylvania, both species, hybrids, and some orchids that may be possibly found in Pennsylvania in the future.

Some Native Orchids and Meat Eaters of Florida
: A jaunt through Florida looking at scenery, insectivorous plants, and approximately one-third of the native orchid species of Florida

Native Orchids of California:
All of the presently known [as of 2000] orchids of California in their glorious haunts.

Native Orchids of Indiana:
Native orchids [both extant and possibly extirpated] in habitat with scenery, wildflowers and wildlife.

A Costa Rican Odyssey:
A journey through orchid-rich Costa Rica.

Orchids in Costa Rica:
A trip from Boruca [south-central Costa Rica] to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Lots of scenery, plants and a few animals.

The Cloud Forests of Costa Rica:
Seventy-eight orchid taxa among 38 orchid genera which may be found in the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Other plants and animals shown too. Lots of scenery.

Cloud Forest of Costa Rica - Part 2:
A new program of orchids in Costa Rica with 78 orchid taxa distributed among 42 genera as well as some other plants and animals.

Orchids in Peru:
I was asked to be an orchid tour guide for an 8 day trip to southern Peru by the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research. These are 50 of the orchids, in habitat, we saw on the trip, plus other plants, animals, and scenery [includes a trip to Machu Picchu].

Orchids in Ecuador (February & March, 2009):
Fifty orchid taxa from southern Ecuador, in habitat, from a number of small trips taken while consulting for Ecuagenera.

Orchids in Ecuador (September & October, 2009):
Similar to the above program with almost all different taxa.

Jewel Orchids - species & hybrids:
Shorter version of the Jewel & Painted-leaf Orchids dealing only with Jewel Orchids. More species and hybrids shown.

Painted-leaf Orchids - species & hybrids:
Shorter version of the Jewel & Painted-leaf Orchids dealing only with Painted-leaf Orchids. More species and hybrids shown.

A few Habenarias & Some Relatives:
Some commonly grown habenaria species, some closely related genera, and a few hybrids. Culture is included. Slightly taxonomic.

Glicenstein's Monsters?:
A program showing some of the sometime unusual hybrids made while at Hoosier Orchids and after. Approximately 107 hybrids are illustrated.

Brief Biography

Leon Glicenstein Ph.D. began growing orchids in 1954, and became assistant to the curator of orchids at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, then Carl Withner, from 1957 to 1960. He has advanced degrees in Chemistry and Horticulture, with an emphasis on plant breeding, cytology, and cytogenetics. Working as a plant breeder for five years at Linda Vista S.A. in Costa Rica, he photographed, in the wild, approximately 80% of the then known orchid species of Costa Rica. He also found new species such as Telipogon glicensteinii, Macroclinium glicensteinii, Pterichis leo, Stenorrhynchos glicensteinii, and Lepanthes glicensteinii. He won the second American Orchid Society Dillon/Peterson Essay Contest using one of his Costa Rican experiences. He has photographed many of the orchids in the Northeastern United States, Florida, and all of the orchids in California, where he located some taxa not formerly known to exist there. As a respected lecturer, has given numerous conservation oriented programs both nationally and internationally, showing orchids growing in their native habitats. Leon has been an invited guest speaker at both the Vancouver and Miami World Orchid Conferences. He has published numerous articles in the American Orchid Society magazine [including a 10 part series on Jewel and Painted-leaf Orchids with a supplement] and some in the Orchid Digest.

Leon joined Hoosier Orchid Company in September 1998. As a breeder, as well as a grower, of orchids at Hoosier Orchid Company Leon specialized in working with members of the Pleruothalidae, Zygopetalinae, Gongorinae, Angraecoid, Jewel and Painted-leaf orchids, as well as other groups. He has created numerous novel and new combination not before known, thereby extended our knowledge of generic relationships within the orchid family. Since the demise of Hoosier Orchid Company Leon has been consulting with other orchid companies on growing orchids from seed.

A strong conservationist, Leon was a past chairperson of the American Orchid Societies Conservation Committee, and had been a member of this committee for decades. He represented the AOS at the international conservation meeting in Costa Rica in 2007. In 2013 Leon was elected to the position of "Fellow of the American Orchid Society" for "… outstanding contributions to conservation, hybridizing, and the educational advancement of the Orchidaceae" [AOS's words], an honor given to only nine other people since the inception of the American Orchid Society.

Before coming to Hoosier Orchid Company he worked for an internationally known plant breeding company breeding crops such as Chrysanthemum, Carnation, Azalea and Roses.


My e-mail address is:   glicenstein33@msn.com

My mailing address is:   Leon Glicenstein
433 Orlando Avenue
State College, PA 16803

My telephone number is:   [814] 237-3900