Dracula gastrophora Luer & Hirtz 1989 SUBGENUS Dracula SECTION Dracula SUBSECTION Dracula SERIES Grandiflorae-Parvilabiate Luer 1993
Photos by © Gary Meyer
TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer
Common Name The Belly Carrying Dracula [refers to the epichile of the lip]
Flower Size 1.8" [4.5 cm]
Found in Pichincha province of Ecuador as a small sized, cool growing epiphtye with erect ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3, loose, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, thinly coriaceous, carinate, broadly elliptical, subplicate, acute, gradually narrows below into the conduplicate base leaf that blooms in the spring on a suberect to horizontal, arising from low on the ramicaul, slender, provided with 4 to 6 distant bracts, 4.8" [12 cm] long, successively several flowered inflorescence with shorter than the pedicel floral bracts..
"Vegetatively characterized bythge relatively wide, subplicate leaves and descending peduncles. The cupped flowres, diffusely and densely covered with dark brown, coalescing spots are average in size for the genus. Most distinctive is the inflated apical half of the epichile that is acutely folded back upon itself, sheilding from view the lamellae within. The peculiar lip is similar to Dracula marsupialis. The considerably smaller sepals of D marsupialis form a widely spread, flat, mostly yellow flower." Luer 1993
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * AOS Bulletin Vol 58: 10 Pg 1005 Luer 1989 drawing/photo fide; Thesaurus Dracularum Vol 5 Luer, Escobar and Dalstroem 1992 watercolor/drawing fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum X Systematics of Dracula Luer 1993 drawing fide; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 1 Dodson, Escobar 1993 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 61 #4 1997 photo fide; Australian Orchid Review Vol 65 No 6 2000 photo; Draculas Del Ecuador Pupulin, Merino and Medina 2009; Flora of Ecuador No 87 225[3] Orchidaceae Dodson & Luer 2010; Orchids Masdevallia with its segregates including Dracula Zelenko 2014 photo fide
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