Dr. Alec Pridgeon received the gold Veitch Memorial Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society in London on April 11.
Established in 1870, the medal is the only international prize awarded by the RHS for outstanding contributions to the advancement of the art, science or practice of horticulture.
Though he has lived in Wellington since 1985, Pridgeon has served as Sainsbury Orchid Fellow at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in England since 1995. He has recently submitted to Oxford University Press the sixth and final volume of Genera Orchidacearum, a monograph of the orchid family, which he co-wrote and co-edited.
In 2011, Pridgeon was elected chair of the International Orchid Committee.
ABOVE: Dr. Alec Pridgeon with his gold Veitch Memorial Medal.
