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It was with great sadness we learned our colleague Ron Coleman of Tucson, Arizona passed away earlier this summer. A lifelong botanist and active in the orchid community, he combined his extensive field experiences with information gathered from many hours poring over herbarium specimens. He studied and photographed wild orchids throughout North America and two native orchids, Hexalectris colemanii and Platanthera colemanii, are named in his honor.
Ron authored 2 books on the native orchids, The Wild Orchids of California (1995) and The Wild Orchids of Arizona and New Mexico (2002). He also co-wrote the treatment of orchids in the Arizona Rare Plant Field Guide and The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, second edition. His articles have appeared in the American Orchid Society Bulletin (now known as Orchids), The Orchid Digest, Fremontia, Selbyana, and Madroño.
Ron generously shared his experiences and photographs from decades of orchid hunting with NAOCC. His gallery on the “North American Lady’s Slippers” was a preview of his article, "Cypripedium of the United States and Canada" published in Orchids, the journal of the American Orchid Society. He also shared his passion for local orchids in the gallery “Orchids of the Southwestern US” and was a valued contributor to Go Orchids, providing images of the rarest orchids found in the southwest region.
Our sincere condolences go out to his wife Jan and family. You can read Ron’s complete obituary, express online condolences and share memories here.
