Leon Glicenstein, Ph.D.
Dr. Leon Glicenstein joined Hoosier Orchids in 1998.He began growing orchids in 1954, and became assistant to Carl Withner,
the curator of orchids at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens from 1957 to 1960.
He has an MS in Chemistry, and a PhD in 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 Costa Rican orchid species.
He also found new species such as : Telipogon glicensteinii,
Macroclinum glicensteinii, Pterichis leo, and Lepanthes glicensteinii.
He won the second AOS Dillon/Peterson Essay contest describing one of his Costa Rican experiences.
He has photographed many of the orchids of the Northeastern US, Florida,
and all of the orchids in California; where he located some taxa not known to exist there.
He has given numerous conservation-oriented lectures, both nationally and internationally,
showing orchids growing in their native habitats.
Before joining Hoosier, he worked for an internationally known plant breeding company
breeding crops such as chrysanthemums, carnations, azaleas, and roses.
