Introduction

Details

Created on Monday, 23 January 2012 19:53

Dear friends of world of epiphytic plants!
You have just entered my new website www.epiphyticon.com . Please, let me introduce them as well as my person. My name is Zdenek Jezek. My profession is engineer of plant genetic. Over  20 years I am professionaly engaded in studying and growing of epiphytes. Primarily it has been epiphytes from the family of Orchidaceae and Bromeliaceae (genuses Tillandsia, Catopsis, Racinaea, Neoregelia etc.). Later I have turned my interest also to epiphytical small anthuriums (arum family – Araceae), peperomias (family Peperomiaceae), beautiful specialised ant plants of genuses Myrmecodia, Hydnophytum, Myrmephytum (family Rubiaceae) and Dischidia (Asclepiadaceae), other epiphytic dischidias, wax plants (genus Hoya) and ferns (for example Drynaria, Lecanopteris, Pyrrosia, Microgramma etc). I also sell the plants more than 20 years. Recently I estimated my collection up to 1 000 species of epiphytes. I grow the plants in two greenhouses in village Sobesuky (near city Kromeriz, eastern part of Czech republic, 130km north of Wienna, capital city of Austria).  
After 1989 I began to travel  to the world’s  tropical regions  to see the plants growing wild. I visited more than 60 countries in Central and South America, Africa and Southwest Asia (I am specialised to Guatemala and Ecuador). I use my large experiences from travelling and botanic field to popularize the world of plants – as an author of hundreds of articles, lectures, several traveloques and popular-science books (for example Encyclopedia of orchids and Encyclopedia of succulents – both books were translated to all main languages of the world).    
All plants from my collection are native to tropical climates. They are not only specialised growers who are interested in my plants (growing their plants in greenhouses or in home epiphyte glass cases), but also breeders of tropical animals. I sell hundreds of plants to their terrariums with geckos, agamas and others.