From: MossyTrail at cs.com on 2004.11.28 at 05:11:01(12440)
Greetings, Aroid-L:
I have just returned from the IXth International Aroid Symposium, hosted by Peter Boyce and Malesiana Tropicals. It was a great event; I learned a lot, and very much enjoyed the field trip.
Several of the attendees, I have known by name for years, thanks to my membership in the International Aroid Society, and Aroid-L. Now was my chance finally to put faces to those names: Peter Boyce, the host; Josef Bogner; Nguyen Van Du; Dan Nicholson; etc. Of course, others were not present, and I was disappointed not to see Eduardo Goncalves, Guanggua Zhu, and Ron Iles. Deni Brown, our lauded author, was there also. Finally, there was one I had met before: Thomas Croat.
The studies presented ran the gamut from Croat's overviews of key genera in need of revision, to genetic typing of Cryptocoryne for conservation planning purposes; from new ornamental cultivars in preparation for release, to food crops in India. Bogner gave a long talk on the structure of aroid inflorescences, not seeming to notice that several members of the audience were beginning to doze off; afterward, I asked him a question, which he answered three times over, but he seemed to think he had not done so adequately, as he turned round to speak to me directly, after having sat down.
Despite the rain and some wrong turns, the field trip to Kubah National Park was a success; I remember seeing Amorphophallus pendula, Stenospermation nicholsoni (with its namesake Dan Nicholson), Homalomena, Aglaonema, Epipremnum. Those who followed the correct trail also found Cryptocoryne.
Thanks to Peter and Malesiana for the great barbecue, and the successful symposium.
Jason Hernandez
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