Stephenson, Alan William (1944 - 2024)
He was born in Wonthaggi, Gippsland, Victoria, on the 21 October 1944; died on 10 May 2024, in NSW.
When he recieved the Order of Australia in 2019 for his work in orchid conservation, he said:
"Not bad for a high school drop out and former factory worker".
Extracts from his obituary in 'The Orchadian' are reproduced here:
"From an early age Alan developed a great
interest in Australian Native Orchids.
Allan
had a large colection and and he won many
prizes and championships for his growing
of orchids. He was a great supporter of the
Shoalhaven Orchid Society and Ilawarra
[Australian Native Orchid Society] ANOS, leading many orchid walks in the
Shoalhaven for these societies, showing
members many orchids in situ, which they
would otherwise not have seen.
Alan was best known for his work in
conservation, being responsible for some
development and road projects being
redesigned to protects the orchids.
Alan was
a tenacious fighter for orchid conservation
particularly in the Shoalhaven.
He authored
many guides and articles on the orchids of
the Shoalhaven.
Allan had many articles on
conservation published in Orchids Australia,
The Orchadian and the Australian Orchid
Review.
Alan was the ANOS and AOC National
Conservation Officer for a period of about
20 years.
Alan was awarded the Order of Australia
Medal [2019] to Honour for his work in conservation
of orchids and his work with local orchid
societies.
A few of his successful conservation
projects include:
Boundary Creek Illawarra now a
regional park,
Vincentia Woolworths site land set
aside for protection of Prasophylum
affine,
Heritage Estate turned over to the
National Park, instead of a residential
proposal,
Discovery of Rhizanthella slateri at
Vincentia.
Genoplesiurm stephensonii (Corunastylis
stephensoni) was named in his honour
because of his extensive conservation
work over many years, much of it to
the benefit of several botanists and
entomologists.
Alan was fortunate to
discover several orchid species not known
to grow in the Shoalhaven and either get
them identified by those botanists or send
samples for scientific analysis.
These
include Rhizanthella slateri (eastern
underground orchid), more than one new
species of Speculantha (Pterostylis) and
also Prasophylum affine, which led to the
identification and publication of pollinator
details after the initial discovery of that
species in the early 1800's.
Alan will be missed for his friendship,
mentoring of the new members, his
knowledge of native orchids and his
irreplaceable tenacious conservation work."
Source: Extracted from:
Regional newspaper 'South Coast Register', June 3 2019:
"Orchid man Alan Stephenson describes receiving the Order of Australia Medal"
'The Orchadian', Vol.21, No.04, June 2024
Portrait Photo: Extracted from: South Coast Register, June 3 2019
Collecting localities for 'Stephenson, A.' from AVH (2024)
Data from 269 specimens