Come and resume the trip we started in August. Greg will take us deeper into eastern and southern Mexico where we'll check out some newly described Agaves and various cool cacti and weird succulents. The climate down there should be warm and dry, and the roads dusty and bumpy so dress appropriately. There will be plenty of photo ops for the shutterbugs. So gas up the car and get ready for some travel time!
Greg's program will cover his last trip to Mexico. He traveled with 7 other people for 13 days and covered over 5000 kilometers throughout much of northern, central, eastern, and western Mexico. During his presentation he will show pictures and add descriptions and comments along the way. The pictures will be of a variety of cactus, both large and small, many succulents and some surprising Agaves, with many in bloom. The pictures will all be fantastic! Brian Kemble, curator at the Ruth Bancroft Gardens in Walnut Creek, CA traveled along on this trip as he and Greg were looking to study as many Agave species taxonomically as they could while others were interested in various other types of plants.
Greg was initially interested in trees, shrubs, and perennials, but he had a peripheral interest in Agaves that continued to grow. Agaves as horticultural plants have always been his favorites for the past 23 years. More recently he has become more interested in Agaves taxonomically. "I've had a passing interest in cacti and other succulents for a number of years, and have just recently started to delve a little more deeply into these wonders of the world." He has written a monograph on the genus Hesperaloe, describing two new species and a new subspecies, and was a coauthor for the description of Agave ovatifolia, the Whale's Tongue Agave. Greg is also the owner of Starr Nursery, a Tucson based mail order nursery specializing in the families Agavaceae, Liliaceae, and Nolinaceae.
