Dryadella espirito-santensis (Pabst) Luer 1978 Drawing by © Carl Luer and the The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website

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Common Name or Meaning The Espirito Santo Dryadella [A state of Brazil]

Flower Size .4" [1 cm]

Found in Espirito Santo State of Brazil at elevations around 1200 meters as a mini-miniature sized, cool growing epiphyte with an erect ramicaul enveloped by thin, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, narrowly linear-elliptical, acute, narrowly cuneate below into the base leaf that blooms in the late fall and early winter on an unknown inflorescence.

The type for this species has been lost and so it is difficult to know what the plant looked like, although we do know that the leaves exceeded 4" [10 cm] and were .4" [1 cm] wide, the inflorescence is most likely short and single flowered, The most remarkable aspect of this species is the sepals and petals are densely granualar pubescent, the apices of the sepals are shortly caudate, and the oblong petals has a descending lobule below the middle. The illustration above is a revision of the sketch published by Pabst.

Synonyms *Masdevallia espirito-santensis Pabst 1973

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchidaceae Brasilenses Band 1 Pabst & Dungs 1975 as Masdevallia espirito-santensis drawing fide; Icones Pleurothallidianrum Vol XXVII Luer 2005 drawing fide;

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