Dracula chestertonii [Rchb.f.]Luer 1978 SUBGENUS Dracula SECTION Chestertonia
Photo by © Jay Pfahl
Photo by © Lourens Grobler
Photo by © Patricia Harding
Photo by Andy's Orchids Copyright © 2002 All rights reserved.
Photo by © Jay Pfahl
Drawing by © Carl Luer
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Common Name Chesterson's Dracula [English Orchid Collector in Colombia 1800's]
Flower Size to about 3" [7 cm]
Found in Antioquia, Choco' and Valle de Cauca departments of Colombia in cloud forests at elevations of 1500 to 2200 meters as a cool to cold growing, small sized orchid from with stout, erect ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3 loose, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, lanceolate, dark green, lightly plicate, thinly coriaceous, acute, gradually narrowing below into the conduplicate petiolate base leaf that blooms in the summer and autumn on a slender, horizontal to descending, arising from low on the ramicaul, multi-bracted, purple, 8" [20 cm] longl, successively single flowered inflorescence with tubular, shorter than the pedicel floral bracts carrying a fragrant [mushrooms] flower held below the leaves.
"The green sepals with reflexed sides are covered with small, black warts. The apices of the petals are smooth and cucullate. The huge lip looks like a muchroom with red gills. The scent produced by the lip is also that of a mushroom. Related to Dracula cutis-bufonis but D chestertonii has a much larger epichile of a lip that is inflexibly fixed to the column foot." Luer 1993
Synonyms *Masdevallia chestertoni Rchb.f 1883; Masdevallia macrochila Regel 1890
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 as Masdevallia chestertoni; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 as Masdevallia chestertonii drawing fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 as Masdevallia chestertoni; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 7 385 - 448 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1975 as Masdevallia chestertonii; Orquideologia Vol 13 Nom1 1978 photo; * Selbyana 2: 194 Luer 1978; AOS Bulletin Vol 48 No 7 1979 drawing/photo fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 1 COS 1990 photo fide; The Illustratred Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon, 1992 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum X Systematics of Dracula Luer 1993 drawing fide; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995 drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 61 #4 1997 photo fide; Australian Orchid Review Vol 65 No 6 2000 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 72 No 4 2003 photo/drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 71 No 1 2007 photo fide; Orquideologia Vol 25 #1 2007 photo fide; Libro Rojo de Plantas De Colombia Vol 6 Primera Parte Saenz 2007; Orchid Digest Vol 72 No 4 2008 photo fide; Orchids Masdevallia with its segregates including Dracula Zelenko 2014 photo fide; Orchids, A Colombian Treasure Vol 1 Ortiz & Uribe 2014 drawing/photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 82 #3 2016; Orquideas de Farallones de Cali Galindo-Tarazona, Haelterman, Zuluaga Trochez and Sebastian Moreno 2020 photo fide
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