On May 9, a symposium entitled “Palms of Hispaniola” was held at the Jardín Botánico Nacional Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso (JBSD) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This symposium was part of a project, sponsored by a grant from the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, to study and conserve the critically endangered Haitian endemic palm Pseudophoenix lediniana. Montgomery is one of the collaborating gardens in this project.

During the symposium, Chad Husby presented a talk entitled, “The conservation and research program at Montgomery Botanical Center,” focusing on MBC’s palm work. Other key participants in the program included Dr. Javier Francisco-Ortega (Fairchild and FIU), Ricardo Garcia (director of JBSD), William Cinea (director of the Cayes Botanical Garden, Haiti), Alberto Veloz (JBSD), Rosa Rodriguez (FIU graduate student working with Pseudophoenix), and Francisco Jiménez (JBSD).

The program was well received by the attendees who asked many questions during the final roundtable discussion.