This was Bruce's fifth trip to Panama and it included climbing a remote mountain in Darien that they tried to climb 10 years ago but found they were on the dry side and couldn't get to the peak. Bruce says "This trip we hired a guide and porters to spend 4 nights getting to the summit to find a rare Heliconia species." The talk will focus on Heliconia, Bromeliads, Orchids, Aroids etc.

Bruce Dunstan is a Brisbane horticulturist who has worked in the local nursery industry for 39 years – 37 years of travelling with over 25 trips through 15 tropical countries pursuing his plant interests in heliconias, gingers, bromeliads, aroids and other rainforest monocots as well as an ever-expanding interest in other plant groups.Bruce has been involved in the early promotion and commercialisation of landscape bromeliads, including Alcantarea and Vriesea cultivars, since the early 2000s.

He has served on the board of the Heliconia Society International for 17 years and also on the Board of the Bromeliad Society of Queensland for 7 years.