NOTE: This meeting is on the third Sunday.

PRESENTER FOR JUNE IS:  Gary Duke – “Bolivia – Part I”.

Cactus of the Month: Opuntia, Tephrocactus.
Succulent of the Month: Cissus, Cyphostemma.

Gary describes his travel with Guillermo Rivera through the Bolivian altoplano via La Paz, Cochabamba, Sucre, Potosi, Carmago to Tarija. He has pictures of over 50 species of Echinopsis, Lobivia, Weingartia, Rebutia, Sulcorebutia as well as several tall columnar species. He even found Cintia and Blossfeldia along with several species of Puya, Dykia and Tillandsia.  Gary took a drone to Bolivia so he has some unique aerial videos as well as other scenic views of the Bolivian Andes and a bit the Bolivian culture.

Gary Duke has been collecting cacti and succulents since he was 10 years old.  He is a retired Air Force officer with a doctoral degree in physics.  During his military career, he moved his original and ever expanding collection of less than about 30 plants from Illinois, where he grew up, to Omaha, NE, Dayton, OH (where he started their first C&S Society, which is now defunct), San Pedro, CA, Montgomery, AL and Albuquerque, NM where he had been show chairman.  He has also been President of the South Coast Cactus and Succulent Society and the Long Beach Club in the southern California area.  He is presently serving on the Board of Directors of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America. Following his military career, he worked as a program manager for Boeing for 16 years.  He’s an avid collector of cacti and also collects Tylecodons and Dudleyas.  He has over 1000 different species in his private collection and enjoys propagating them.  He frequently gives slide presentations throughout southern California.