Symposium | Orchidaceae | Taxonomy, Diversification, and Biogeography

Bringing together contributions that advance our understanding of orchid evolution across taxonomic, temporal, and geographical scales.
About this Event

This is a hybrid day meeting, offering the option of in-person tickets or online.

This day meeting supports a Special Issue in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society

Orchids (Orchidaceae), with nearly 30,000 accepted species worldwide, are the largest family of angiosperms and one of the most ecologically and morphologically remarkable lineages in the plant kingdom.

Orchids occupy an extraordinary diversity of habitats across all continents except Antarctica, displaying exceptional variation in life form, pollination biology, mycorrhizal associations, reproductive strategies, and genomic architecture. Their immense diversity and global distribution make them an ideal system for investigating the processes that generate, structure, and maintain plant biodiversity through time and space. At the same time, the family has a complex taxonomic history, shaped first by contrasting interpretations of morphological variation and more recently, by different perspectives arising from DNA-based classifications.

This symposium will bring together diverse cutting-edge perspectives on orchid evolution, across taxonomic, temporal, and geographical scale.

Speakers

• Richard M. Bateman (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK) - An over-estimated diversity of species numbers and an under-estimated diversity of speciation mechanisms currently characterise European orchid studies
• Joris Bertrand (Université de Perpignan Via Domitia) - Peculiar pollination strategies and complex genomes as drivers of adaptive radiation: Insights from Bee Orchids (genus Ophrys)
• Gill and David Mathers (Mathers Foundation) - What is an orchid worth without a label? Taxonomy, provenance and pragmatic ex situ conservation
• Oscar Alejandro Pérez-Escobar (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK) - The origin and speciation of orchids as seen through the orchid tree of life
• Melania Fernandez Campos (Lankester Botanic Garden, Costa Rica) - Ecological dimensions of orchid mycorrhizae: diversity, specificity, and recruitment
• Arthur Macedo (University of Coimbra, Portugal) - Phylogenomics, Diversification, and Biogeography of Mystacidioid Orchids (Angraecinae, Orchidaceae), with Emphasis on Rhipidoglossum Schltr
• Monika Lipińska (University of Gdansk, Polonia) - Who really attracts the pollinators? The hidden role of the floral microbiome in plant reproduction
• Diego Bogarin Chavez (Lankester Botanic Garden, Costa Rica) - Who will identify our orchid species in the future?
• Roberta Gargiulo (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK) - Tracking Genetic Diversity, Symbiosis and Resilience in Orchid Populations to Inform Conservation Actions
• Alexander Damian-Parizaca (University of Wisconsin-Madison) - Phylogenomics and Historical Biogeography of Vanilla (Orchidaceae)

Posters

A limited number of posters will be exhibited, with an emphasis on early-career researchers. If you would like to contribute a poster, please submit a title and abstract (max 200 words), with lead author affiliation and career stage, to [email protected] by 9am Monday 12 October 2026.

Special Issue

Papers from the symposium will contribute to a , which publishes original papers relating to the biology of both plants and fungi. The call for papers for the special issue closes on 31 August 2027.

Sponsors

This event is generously supported by the Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium Jany Renz, Basel, Switzerland, with special thanks to its President, Dr Roland P. Bühlmann, for his continued support of orchid research.

Tickets

Online tickets are offered at a flat rate, and include access to the livestream, as well as access to recorded videos to enable people across different timezones to hear the talks.

In person tickets include refreshments, lunch and an evening drink reception. We offer discounts to Linnean Society members, students and concessions.

Please buy the concession ticket if you are any of the below:

• 65 years of age, or over
• Under 26 years of age
• Currently in receipt of UK government benefit (including, but not limited to, Income Based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit, and Universal Credit).
• Currently in full-time education.

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