San Gabriel Valley Cactus and Succulent Society
Next Club Meeting:
February 12th
Ayres Hall of the LA Arboretum: 7:30 PM. Doors open at 6:00 PM
Plants of the Month are:
Cacti: Weingartia
Succulents: Crassula
Watch our YouTube Video!.
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February Speaker: Gary Duke
Gary Duke has collected cacti and succulents since age 10. A retired Air Force officer with a PhD in physics, he moved his ever-growing collection across the country during his military career and helped found a cactus and succulent society in Dayton, Ohio. He has served as show chair and president of multiple Southern California clubs, including South Coast and Long Beach, and served on to the Board of Directors of the CSSA.
After the Air Force, he spent 16 years as a program manager at Boeing. Gary maintains a private collection of over 1,000 species, with a special interest in cacti, Tylecodon, and Dudleya, and regularly presents programs throughout Southern California.
Cacti in Habitat – Brazil
by Gary Duke
Experience Brazil’s cactus riches through the lens of Gary’s July 2025 field trip. This presentation takes you deep into Minas Gerais and Bahia, regions famous for their incredible concentration of rare and endemic cacti. Featuring more than 41 species, you will see iconic genera such as Arrojadoa, Cereus, Cipocereus, Coleocephalocereus, Discocactus, Fachairoa, Lagenosocereus, Leocereus, Melocactus, Micranthocereus, Pereskia, Pierrebraunia, Pilosocereus, Stephanodereus, and Tacinga.
Beyond the cacti, Gary also documents beautiful wildflowers that share these harsh landscapes. Join us for an armchair expedition to see these plants growing wild, exactly as nature intended
