The Northern Gauteng Orchid Society (NGOS), is a community of orchid growers and enthusiasts based in Pretoria. The NGOS was founded in 1967 and is the country's fourth-oldest orchid society. NGOS members meet monthly to discuss orchid culturing and display their blooming plants. Dr Ariska van der Nest , a postdoctoral researcher at FABI , as well as a member of the NGOS core committee invited Dr Tanay Bose (Postdoc, FABI) to present a talk on the "mycorrhizal diversity associated with orchids in South Africa" as part of the society's monthly seminar series. Dr Bose is a member of the team led by Prof. Almuth Hammerbacher that investigates mycorrhizal diversity associated with endangered and endemic South African orchids such as Brachycorythis conica subsp. transvaalensis and Habenaria barbertoni . His talk presented the outcomes of studies conducted by two postgraduate students from the group, Ms Modjadji Makwela and Ms Tiphany Nkomo .