Dracula (C.A. Luer)

Generally, the plants grow at altitudes between 1,500 and 2,300 meters, but some grow at altitudes below 300 meters and others even above 2,300 meters. All plants grow in the shade of trees and receive little direct sunlight. In their natural habitat, these plants grow on moss-covered branches. In these locations, the roots of the plants always remain moist (not wet!) because the humidity is also very high.

Over the past 40 years, new species have been discovered in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. However, it also happens that plants that have been in a collection for years begin to bloom and are new to science. This happened, for example, with Dracula brangeri (Luer) in 1986, which is named after the grower, Christiaan Branger, one of the founders of the Masdevallia Study Group (Pleurothallidinae) in the Netherlands.

Mr. Branger obtained the plant from Hubein in Berlin, who had collected it in 1979. The plant bloomed for the first time in October 1985 and was officially described in 1986. Only a few of these plants are cultivated in collections.

The same happened with Dracula terborchii, which was collected in northwestern Ecuador, in the Carchi region, by collectors from José Portilla. Since 1996, this plant has been cultivated by Herman ter Borch, who brought it to bloom in 1997. In 1998, a flower was sent to Dr. C.A. Luer, who described the new species.

In the 1990s, Draculas were very popular among enthusiasts in Sweden and the Netherlands.

Several varieties were named, such as Dracula x dalstroemii, lafleurii, lindstroemii, soennemarkii. These are named after the Swedish collectors Stig Dalström, Rolf La Fleur, Manfred Lindström, and Jan Sönnemark.
Dracula antonii, brangerii, sijmii, and terborchii are named after the Dutch collectors Ton Sijm, Chris Branger, Ton Sijm, and Herman ter Borch.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a group of Swedish enthusiasts, including Stig Dalström, collected a large number of plants in Ecuador. These include Dracula alcithoë, dalessandroi, dalstroemii, felix, gigas, hirtzii, trichroma (iricolor), lafleurii, levii, lindstroemii, mantisse, marsupualis, mopsus, morleyi, radiosa, rezekiana, sibundoyënsis, sodiroi, ubangina, vampira, and woolwardiae. Some species were discovered for the first time by them.