Dr. David J. de Laubenfels, a renowned authority on conifers of the Southern Hemisphere and professor emeritus at Syracuse University, studied the cycad and tropical conifer collections at Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC).  Dr. de Laubenfels has described 100 species of conifers and is also an authority on the genus Cycas.

Working with Chad Husby, MBC collections manager and botanist, Dr. de Laubenfels helped with identifying MBC’s conifers  and species within the genus Cycas. While here, Dr. de Laubenfels presented The Southern Hemisphere Conifers.

In the photo at left, Dr. de Laubenfels at MBC with Araucaria laubenfelsii, a species named after him which has been growing in MBC’s collection for 20 years.