Scott Zona

Scott Zona grew up among the palms of South Florida and was smitten by them at an early age. For nearly 15 years, he was the palm biologist for Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami. He has made field collections of palms from throughout the world and completed several important taxonomic monographs of ornamental palms. He is currently the curator of the Wertheim Conservatory at Florida International University.

Author of nearly 100 articles on palms, both popular and technical, Zona is also the co-editor of PALMS, the quarterly journal of the International Palm Society, an organization to which he has belonged for more than 30 years. He teaches and lectures all over the world about tropical plants, and grows palms and other tropical plants at his home in Miami.