We have Carlos Fighetti (past president of the American Orchid Society) as our speaker for June. Carlos will be giving his presentation titled: Understanding Phalaenopsis. This is a talk about Phalaenopsis species. Currently there are 72 species on the genus, up from the 63 that were in Christenson book. With the publication of Genus Orchidacearum volume 6, the genus now includes these former genera: Doritis and Kingidium (already in Christenson book but not accepted by Kew until the publication of the book), Hygrochilus, Lesliae, Nothodoritis, Ornithochilus and Sedirea.
The talk is about distribution, habitats, morphology, Classification, and influence on the hybrids. In addition, some of the species are covered in detail, showing images and location and information about flowering and culture of that particular species.
Carlos is not bringing plants for sale.
The society will be hosting Carlos The Dodo Restaurant located at 1355 E 2100 S staring at 5:30 pm.
Bio information:
Carlos Fighetti has been involved in orchids for forty years. He is a past president of the American Orchid Society, and was on the Board of that organization for nearly fifteen years. He was a member of the Affiliated Society Committee for eight years; a member of the Information Committee for four years (three as its Chair); and currently serves as a member of the Judging Committee and an ad hoc member of the Library and Archives Committee, of which he Chaired for two years. Carlos has also been a member of the Finance Committee. In addition, he has volunteered his time as a member of four Nominating Committees of the Society.
He is a member and a past president of the Greater New York Orchid Society, where he also served for eight years as show Chair of the New York International Orchid Show. In addition, he is a member and was a trustee of the Ramapo Orchid Society in New Jersey, He was the president and currently is the vice-president of the Puerto Rico Orchid Society, and a member of the Mayaguez and Orquidistas de Borinquen Orchid Societies in Puerto Rico. He is also a member of the Pleurothallid Alliance, and the Peruvian and Chilean Orchid Societies. Carlos was the founding president and is the current president of the International Phalaenopsis Alliance.
An accredited AOS judge, he chairs the recently formed Puerto Rico Judging Center of the American Orchid Society. Carlos has among his judging, four World Orchid Conferences, the Tokyo Grand Prix Orchid Show, The Taiwan International Orchid Show and several Latin American Shows. He has lectured about orchids all over the US and Canada and at many international venues.
Carlos lives in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, where he grows approximately 2,500 orchid plants. He grows a mixed collection, including a good number of species. A grower of note, his plants have received over 150 awards from the AOS for horticultural, flower quality and cultural merits, including six FCCs and one CCE. He has also received eight AOS show trophies and many other awards for exhibits at orchid shows around the country.
Professionally, Carlos retired as a Senior Research Associate of the Engineering School at Columbia University, where he was the Director of a well-known research laboratory working on nuclear reactor safety. “The main emphasis was in determining the integrity of the reactor cores and the meltdown levels for normal operating as well as accident conditions for just about every nuclear reactor in the world, including the Russian designs,”