Maryland Orchid Society

Welcome

The Maryland Orchid Society meets the third Thursday of the month beginning at 7 p.m. See the Meetings page for a full timetable.

Inclement Weather Policy:

If a snow emergency is declared or in effect in either Baltimore City or Baltimore County as of noon or later on the day of our meeting, the scheduled meeting will be Zoom-only. Snow emergencies lifted before noon will not change a meeting. Refer to the Maryland Coordinated Highway Action Response Team (CHART) website for the latest snow emergency information.
We will distribute an email message to members confirming a change to Zoom-only as soon as it is known. Information may also be posted on the MOS website.

The next MOS board meeting will be Thursday, May 14, 2026, via Zoom. Any member of the Maryland Orchid Society is welcome to attend the board meetings.

Last month's and previous newsletters is available in PDF (acrobat) format (about 1 megabyte) online. CLICK HERE! You should receive a link to the current newsletter in your email IF you are a paid up member.

The Maryland Orchid Society Calendar

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Leon Glicenstein at Hoosier Orchids 8 November 2008
Leon Glicenstein (center) at Hoosier Orchids 8 November 2008

Thursday, May 21, 2026
Leon Glicenstein
‘Jewel Orchids - species and hybrids’
7:00 p.m.

In-Person and Zoom

In-Person and Zoom for BUSINESS ONLY. IN-PERSON ONLY FOR LECTURE

     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.
     Since Hoosiers orchid Company’s closing Leon has lived in State College, PA growing and breeding Habenarias and a few other genera as well as giving in-person orchid programs to orchid societies.

Maryland Orchid Society Membership Form
New Members and Renewal Members

Maryland Orchid Society Membership form fillable
Click on image to download form.

Maryland Orchid Society Membership Flyer The MOS brings together people interested in orchids to promote and encourage orchid culture, preservation, education propagation, hybridization, and all other orchid-related activities of interest to its members. Benefits of membership include a subscription to the Newsletter (email and web), voting rights, borrowing privileges from the MOS Library, monthly guest speakers, local judging, valuable door prizes, and much, much, more!

Click here to download a copy of the Maryland Orchid Society Membership Flyer, a beautiful full color poster to place wherever there are people needing the benefits of our fellowship!

If you are interested in orchid culture and would like to meet others with similar interests, we cordially invite you to join the ranks of Marylanders already enjoying the benefits of membership in the Maryland Orchid Society.

We invite articles, notices, etc. for inclusion in our monthly newsletter. The Newsletter submission date is the 26^th of the month for inclusion in the next newsletter.

The Missions Statement of The Maryland Orchid Society

Mission Statement of the Maryland Orchid Society

Maryland Orchid Society ByLaws available ☞ HERE ☜!

Officers
President		Robert Travers
Vice President		Marc Kiriou
Treasurer		Brenda Logan
Secretary		Diane Elam
Past President		John Heinbokel
Directors
Joy Marlowe
Robin Neukam

Committee Chairs
Activities		John Heinbokel
Auction		Aaron Webb
Away Shows		Valerie Lowe
Education/Activities		Chris Zajac
Hospitality		Vincent Russo
House		Clark Riley
Library		Wanda Kuhn
Membership		Jill Allen
Newsletter		Laura Sobelman
Program		Fay Citerone
Refreshments		Kathi Jackson
Show		Marc Kiriou
Show Table		Joel Graham
Sunshine		Pat Schiavi
Website		Clark Riley
Representatives
AOS/ODC Rep.		Valerie Lowe
Social Media		Joel Graham

Member Maryland Nursery, Landscape, and Greenhouse Association (MNLGA)

MNLGA Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association

If you have MOS expenses, a blank reimbursement form is available ⇨here⇦.

If you have MOS expenses, a fillable PDF reimbursement form is available ⇨here⇦.

The vitality of our society is a direct result of the efforts of all our members.
Volunteer, sign up, participate!