Joyce Stewart is an eminent orchid specialist. Her latest book reflects her sojourns to Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Reunion and Comoro Islands in pursuit of a rare group of orchids. As a botanist, she ventures beyond description to offer detailed insight into distribution, flowering seasons, ecology and conservation. Throughout her career, she has sustained a special interest in African species of orchid, informed by twenty-two years of residence on the continent. She is the recipient of Gold Medals from the South African Orchid Council (1982), the American Orchid Society (1993) and the Royal Horticultural Society (1993 and 1997). In 2003, she was named Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to horticultural science and botanical education. Currently living in Dorset, England, she lectures all over the world and is President of the British Orchid Council and Chairman of the International Orchid Commission. She has published over 100 scientific and popular articles on orchids as well as numerous books such as Orchids (Timber Press 2000), Orchids of Kenya (Timber Press 1996), and The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary Manual of Orchids (co-edited with Mark Griffiths, Timber Press 1995).