Panayoti Kelaidis (USA)

The Best of the West (new and little known alpines of Western America)

There are over 500 mountain ranges in the Western United States between Canada and Mexico, the Great Plains and Pacific Ocean. These are like sky islands rising out of a sea of steppe covered with sagebrush and grasses. Practically every range has some variation on Penstemon, Erigeron, Eriogonum or Phlox—or something totally distinct. Many of these ranges are still relatively unknown by botanists—new taxa and forms are always being found. The scenery here is extraordinarily diverse and beautiful.

Panayoti Kelaidis has worked as Curator at Denver Botanic Gardens since 1980. For 11 years he ran Rocky Mountain Rare Plants, collecting seed throughout the West and selling it mail order. He has explored repeatedly across Eurasia, Africa and South America and New Zealand.  He served as president of the North American Rock Garden Society from 2021-2024. Best known for having introduced the first Delosperma to cultivation in 1981—he has a special passion for bulbs and chasmophytes.