Dracula lotax [Luer]Luer 1978 SUBGENUS Dracula SECTION Dracula SUBSECTION Dracula SERIES Parviflorae
Photo by © Jay Pfahl
Photo by © Dale and Deni Borders
TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer
Common Name The Clown Dracula
Flower Size .8" x 3.2" [2 x 8 cm]
Found in Pastaza, Morona-Santiago and Zamora-Chinchipe provinces of Ecuador and northern Peru in tall wet forests from elevations of 800 to 1600 meters as a mini-miniature to miniature sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with erect to suberect, slender ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3, loose, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, thinly coriaceous, carinate, narrowly elliptical, acute, gradually narrowing below into the conduplicate, indistinct, channeled petiolate base leaf that blooms in the spring on an slender, purple, suberect, horizontal to descending, arising from low on the ramicaul that is sparsely bracted, 2 to 3.2" [5 to 8 cm] long, single flowered inflorescence with a tubular, shorter than the pedicel floral bract.
Very similar to and possibly synonomous with D adrianae and if so D lotax takes priority. The small white flowers with red tails ae produced on wesk peduncles. The sepals form a shallow cup lined by a blanket of short, thick hairs. The dark tipped petals flank the column like beady eyes to either side of a nose and the lip below is eaasily interpreted as a mouth, all in the center of a whiskery face." Luer 1993
Synonyms Masdevallia bomboiza M. Fiske 1974; *Masdevallia lotax Luer 1978
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Selbyana 2: 195 Luer 1978; AOS Bulletin Vol 48 No 7 1979 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXIV Luer 2002 drawing fide; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 1 Dodson 1993 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 61 #4 1997 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 72 No 11 2003 photo fide; Orchid Species of Peru Zelenko Bermudez 2009 photo fide; AOS Bulletin vol 78 No 10 2009 photo fide; Draculas Del Ecuador Pupulin, Merino and Medina 2009 photo fide; Flora of Ecuador No 87 225[3] Orchidaceae Dodson & Luer 2010; Orchids, A Colombian Treasure Vol 1 Ortiz & Uribe 2014; Orchids: Masdevallia and its Segregates Zelenko 2014 photo fide AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #8 2016 photo fide;
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