Dracula diana Luer & R. Escobar 1981 SUBGENUS Dracula SECTION Dracula SUBSECTION Dracula SERIES Parviflorae

Flower Closeup

Plant and Flowers

Photos by © Danny Lentz, plant grown by Atlanta Botanical Garden

TYPE Drawing

TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer

and

Common Name Diana's Dracula [Roman Goddess of the moon refers to the white round flowers]

Flower Size 2 x 4" [5 x 10 cm]

Found in Valle de Cauca department of Colombia on the western cordillera in cloud forests at elevations around 1200 to 1600 meters as a small sized, cool growing epiphyte with erect ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3, loose, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, thinly coriaceous, carinate, subplicate, narrowly obovate, acute, gradually narrowing below into the conduplicate, indistinct petiolate base leaf that blooms in the fall and spring on a slender, horizontal, arising from low on the ramicaulm provided with a few bracts, successively few flowered, 3.2" to 4" [8 to 10 cm] long, racemose inflorescence with a tubular, shorter than the pedicel floral bracts.

Dracula diana is closely allied to the D. houtteana and D psittacina, but it is best distinguished from them by the broad, subplicate leaves. The greenish white flowers minutely spotted with purple are only slightly larger. The lip is very similar to that of D. houtteana.

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Orquideologia Vol 15 #1 Luer & Escobar 1981 photo/drawing fide; Thesaurus Dracularum Vol 7 Luer, Escobar and Dalstroem 1994 watercolor/drawing fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXIV Luer 2002 drawing fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 COS 1994 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 61 #4 1997 photo fide; Libro Rojo de Plantas De Colombia Vol 6 Primera Parte Saenz 2007 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 72 #4 2008 as D diana f xanthina photo fide; AOS Bulletin vol 78 No 10 2009 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;

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