Date: Sat, 06 Jun 1998 17:33:17 +0900 From: ss66428 <ss66428@hongo.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1931$foo@default> Subject: Bonn Conference
To all,
I just returned yesterday from the ICPS Conference at Bonn.
What can
I say? It was FANTASTIC! The organizers deserve endless
congratulations for the success of the conference and I would also like
to thank them personally for giving me a chance to give a talk there and
for everything else.
The ICPS Conference sure lived up to the "international" part of
its
name, as we had present at least one representative from each continent.
As for the number of people present, I guess we'll have to wait for
official reports. All I know is that there were LOTS of us at Bonn,
even up to the last talk given at the conference. And I've never seen
such a fantastic reunion of CPers! I not only saw many friends I'd made
on my previous trip through Europe, but I also met several important
people in the CP world who I only knew from books, I met a few people
who I only knew over the internet, as well as many other people who I am
sure I will maintain contact with.
I guess the impression we all had at the end is that we hadn't
had
enough time to socialize! There were just too many interesting people
to talk to and in the end I didn't get to say goodbye to a bunch of
them, much less talk at length with all present. Although the lectures
were all really interesting, we often found ourselves nodding from
exaustion, after having stayed until late at the bars and restaurants
talking and drinking until late and then sleeping only a few hours. Not
to mention a few people with hangovers....
As for the lectures, there was plenty to satisfy all tastes,
varying
from the most technical scientific stuff to talks on beautiful CPs in
their habitats. A few people unfortunately cancelled their talks, such
as the famous Alfred Lau, who I was really keen to meet and see all his
famous _Pinguicula_ slides from Mexico. Hopefully he'll make it to the
3rd ICPS Conference...
The CP exposition at the Bonn Botanic Garden was the best I've
ever
seen. Not only were the plants BEAUTIFUL, but they were also able to
reunite (first time ever, I believe) live specimens representing *ALL*
CP genera, including the one and only _Triphyophyllum peltatum_!! It
was in the juvenile phase, but still of immense interest since it was a
first for most of us.
There were also many fantastic _Drosera_, including the most
beautifully large, robust, and colorful specimens I've ever seen of
_D.regia_. These were in flower and at the gardens they also had
something I'd never heard of: a _D.regia_ form with very pale-lilac
flowers. I was also surprised to see they had _G.aurea_ growing
succesfully and even flowering at the gardens! According to them, this
is an "easy" species. HA!
Thomas Carow was selling a great variety of healthy and colorful
CPs.
One of the most succesful sales was _Roridula gorgonias_, which
disappeared rather quickly. Everyone there seemed to be walking around
with a pot of this species! The CP exposition was apparently also a big
hit among the local people. Thomas was also selling a 1999 CP calendar
splashed with his amazing pictures. For those of you who don't know,
Thomas is the one who filmed "Deathtraps and Lifelines" (the one which
Canadians were talking about on this list about a week ago). If you've
seen that video, you'll get an idea of the surprising quality of this
calendar. I'm not sure if he is selling individual calendars by mail,
but he did tell me he is willing to mail them in bulk, for example to CP
societies who could then redistribute them.
Talking about the commercial side, Charles Clarke was one of the
lecturers at the conference and he was also selling (and autographing)
his book "_Nepenthes_ of Borneo". I'm by no means a _Nep_ freak,
although I like them, but this book is truly fascinating and highly
recommended. A special surprise was to see several copies of Peter
D'Amato's brand new book "The Savage Garden" flying around from hand to
hand. Although I didn't have much time to dispute it with everyone else
present, I did take a look through it and it seemed to be very well
organized and clear. Congratulations Peter! It's also very well
illustrated, although I did miss my South American _Drosera_..... :):)
I also would like to clear up that, contrary to popular belief,
_U.longifolia_ and _U.reniformis_ (and not _U.re*in*formis_, as in the
book) are NOT epiphytic, but terrestrial. There are few reports of the
latter growing epiphytically in bromeliads, but I've never seen this
myself and have a few doubts about it.
I stayed a few extra days in Germany with Frank Gallep and
Thomas
Carow (HI! and THANKS!). Having been immersed in CPs and out of touch
with world news, as well as family, I only found out about Wednesday's
German train disaster when I was on the plane back to Japan and surely
enough arrived home to find messages from family and friends calling to
know if I was OK. I just hope none of the other CPers present at Bonn
decided to travel around Germany after the conference and were on that
train....
Best Wishes to all,
Fernando Rivadavia
Tokyo, Japan
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