The Pridi Banomyong Library Rare Book Room, Thammasat University, Tha Prachan campus, owns a number of rare and useful items of potential interest to students and researchers, especially those interested in history, literature, education, political science, Asian studies, and related subjects.

Among them is Introduction to the World of Orchids, a 1964 book by Galfrid Clement Keyworth Dunsterville.

G. C. K. Dunsterville was an English business executive and botanist who studied orchids.

The TU Library collection includes other books about different aspects of orchids.

When he died in 1988: an appreciation of Dunsterville was published in the Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, reading in part:

The Orchid Herbarium of Oakes Ames and the field of orchidology suffered a great loss when Galfrid Clement Keyworth Dunsterville died on November 26, 1988, in Caracas, Venezuela, at the age of 83. He is survived by his wife, Ellinor, and two daughters. Dunsterville had been a Research Associate at the Ames Orchid Herbarium since 1958.

Dunsterville was born on February 18, 1905, in Devon, England. He started work as a petroleum engineer with Shell Oil Company in 1925. After his marriage to Ellinor “Nora” Freeman in 1929 in Egypt, his career took them to Holland, Romania, the United States, Trinidad, England, Colombia, and finally to Venezuela in 1947.

He then settled in Venezuela for the remainder of his life. He served as president of Shell Oil in Venezuela from 1957 to 1959; upon retiring he worked full time in orchidology. His interest in orchids was first expressed in oil paintings in the early 1950’s. Photographs of these paintings were sent to L. A. Garay, then in Toronto, for identification.

On Garay’s encouragement, Dunsterville took up pen-and-ink line drawings to attain greater botanical precision. He went on to produce over 1100 orchid drawings from live material, executed in remarkable detail. Collaboration between Dunsterville and Garay gained strength when Garay was appointed Curator of the Orchid Herbarium of Oakes Ames in 1957.

Their combined work resulted in the publication of the outstanding six-volume Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated (1959-1976). This series presented 1000 orchids, many new to science or new to Venezuela; 55 additional species appeared in the Field Guide to the Orchids of Venezuela published in 1979. Over the years Dunsterville sent the flower material upon which his drawings were based to Garay for identification.

These pickled flowers are now part of the Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium, which holds the copyright to Dunsterville’s drawings. Dunsterville donated the remaining collection of pickled flowers and his orig- inal drawings to the American Orchid Society in 1985.

A smaller amount of duplicate pickled material is at the Venezuelan National Herbarium. Dunsterville wrote extensively on orchids and on his numerous orchid- collecting expeditions, publishing over 250 articles in the American Orchid Society Bulletin, the Orchid Review, the Orchid Digest, and several other orchid journals and books of Brazil, Germany, the United States, and Venezuela. […]

The website Orchids Asia.com notes:

Although Thailand is a natural habitat for several diverse species of orchids, yet the interest to grow cultivars of economic value was first recorded in 1913 with the introduction of some exotic materials by a foreigner.Having got interetsed in orchid growing the Prince Krompranakornsawanvorapinit got the orchid growing into a hobby and commercial interest.In 1934 Den. Pompodur was launched. The Orchid Society of Thailand was formed under royal patronage in 1959 by Rapee Sagarik who earlier became associated with growing and studying.

Tissue culture propagation and work on orchids started in 1967 at the Chulalongkorn University and later spread to all the belts.

Bangkok and near by provinces where climate conditions and infrastructure exists today are centers of orchid cultivation and an estimated area of 2300 hectares of orchids are available.The other major centers are Nonthaburi, Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Chonburi.

The Orchid Society of Thailand is the first organization in Thailand devoted exclusively to orchids, established in 1959.

In November, the Society posted on its Facebook page the following information:

The practice of purchasing wild orchids to cultivate them—leading to their extinction in nature—requires significant financial investment, time, effort, and dedication, as well as cooperation from the surrounding community. Even with these resources, success in restoring a species to its natural habitat is merely a possibility, not a guarantee.

For example, efforts have been made to reintroduce the Vanda coerulea, which had been declared extinct in certain forests. Despite a cessation of wild collection for over 35 years, its number is approximately 10 plants. A small group of conservationists took the initiative to replant seedlings propagated from pods sourced from the remaining wild population.

Before large-scale reintroduction, experimental planting was conducted to assess whether the species could grow and flower in its former habitat. Timing was critical, as planting needed to align with specific seasons for optimal survival rate. Community leaders and local villagers were involved in reintroducing a sufficient number of plants to establish a genetically equilibrium population. These orchids were planted primarily on trees where the species was previously observed as host plants, with a trial on other trees where it had not naturally occurred.

Post-planting monitoring revealed mixed outcomes. After the first rainy season, we observed whether the orchids established roots that adhered to the tree bark. Challenges arose, including damage caused by gibbons and langurs pulling at the plants. Subsequent monitoring assessed the plants’ resilience to natural diseases and their ability to produce seed pods in the wild. One significant challenge was the possible absence of pollinating insects, which might have migrated away from habitats where the orchids had disappeared.

Despite some plants succumbing to disease, the project—named “Revitalization of a Vanda coerulea Habitat”—yielded positive results. A small number of plants successfully bore seed pods, and the remaining population reached a theoretical threshold for sustainability. This success offers hope, provided there is no repeat of the destructive over-harvesting practices of the past.

In June 2024, another Facebook post reported:

People disconnected from the realities of the world might believe that law enforcement alone can stop the illegal trade of wild orchids.  To prevent orchid species from becoming extinct, a variety of strategies must be implemented.  Among them are raise public awareness that artificial propagated specimens are easier to grow and of better quality than the wild collected specimens, restore degraded habitats, eco-friendly tourism by villager from nearby villages, reintroduction using artificial propagated materials.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)