Dracula vinacea Luer & R. Escobar 1978 SUBGENUS Dracula SECTION Dracula SUBSECTION Dracula SERIES Parviflorae
Photo by © Jean Finalle
TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer
EARLY
Common Name The Wine Red Dracula
Flower Size 1" x 7" [2.5 x 17.5 cm]
Found in the easten cordillera in the departmnet of Boyaca Colombia in cloud forests and road banks at elevations above 2400 meteres as a medium sized, cold growing epiphyte with erect, slender ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3 loose, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, thinly coriaceous, carinate, very narrowly elliptical-linear, acute, gradually narrowing below into the conduplicate, indistinct, petiolate base leaf that blooms in the spring through early fall on a slender, horizontal to descending, sparsely bracted, peduncle 4 to 7.2" [10 to 18 cm] long, arising from low on the ramicaul, rachis to 3.2" [8 cm] long, lax, successively single, several flowered inflorescence with a tubular, just shorter to as long as the pedicel floral bract.
"Identified by the long, slender leaves and the rather small, darl purple, campanulate but gaping flowers with long, slender, maroon tails. The hypochile of the pink lip is transversly slliptical with smooth, incurved margins. Within the cavity is one thick, central carina flanked by 1 to 2 fragments of veins." Luer 1993
This species is one of only seven Dracula species that occur on the eastern cordillera, the other 6 are, D gerhardii, D anthracina, D orientalis and D vlad tepes as well D. diabola in Boyacá and Dracula psittacina in Cundinamarca
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Orquideologia Vol 13 No 1 1978 photo/drawing/herbarium sheet fide; Thesaurus Dracularum Vol 4 Luer, Escobar and Dalstroem 1991 watercolor/drawing fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 1 COS 1990 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum X Systematics of Dracula Luer 1993 drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 61 #4 1997 photo fide; Libro Rojo de Plantas De Colombia Vol 6 Primera Parte Saenz 2007 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;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
