Dracula bella is native to Colombia. These plants grow in several habitats in the northern part of the Western Cordilleras, but they will meet rather rarely and in small areas.
Dracula bella also called as The Beautiful Dracula, Masdevallia bella, is a species of the genus Dracula. This species was described by Carlyle A. Luer in 1978.
IDENTIFY DRACULA BELLA
Dracula bella is native to Colombia. These plants grow in several habitats in the northern part of the Western Cordilleras, but they will meet rather rarely and in small areas. They are also found at the Antioquia Department near Canasgordas and Frontino, at the Choc Department in Vereda Guangarales, at the Risaralda Department at Canon de Cuanza, and near Mampay and Tatam. They grow usually at heights of 1800-2000 m, but there are cases of finding them even at an altitude of 2440 m. They grow on trees and on the forest floor.
It is a small sized, cool growing, caespitose epiphytic species, which can reach the height of 18-25 cm, with coarse roots and a short leafy, 2.5-3.0 cm stem enveloped by loose basal sheaths and carrying a single, erect, thin coriaceous, elliptic-oblanceolate, acute to obtuse, 15-20 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, petiolate base leaf.
The Beautiful Dracula blooms in the winter through spring on a pendulous, short to 7" (17.5 cm) raceme that arises from the base of the pseudobulb and carries a single, nodding flower. The flowers are 20 cm in diameter. They are auburn or brick-red color that covers the yellow background. The outer whorls are yellow, with irregular red dots and spots and densely covered with short hairs inside. The upper sepal is triangular-oval in shape, at the base it joins with the lateral sepals, forming a wide-open flower. Pointed sepals end in dark red tails about 13 cm long. The lip is small, rounded, white, sometimes with a pinkish tinge.
DRACULA BELLA CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light:
Dracula bella needs a light level of 15000-20000 lux and require moderate light and strong air movement.
Temperature:
The plant is moderately thermophilic. The temperature is the same throughout the year. The average daily temperature is 23.9-26.1 ° C, night 11.4-13.1 ° C, the daily difference is 11.3-14.1 ° C. This orchid grows well at moderate temperatures and, unlike most other cold-loving species of the Dracula genus, can tolerate warmer conditions if it is provided with a nightly drop in temperature or a large diurnal temperature drop.
Humidity:
The Beautiful Dracula needs the humidity of 70-80% throughout the year.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Dracula bella can be grown on pieces of tree fern or cork, if it is possible to provide it with high humidity and daily watering. When growing in pots, you can use any loose, fast-drying substrate.
Repotting is best done in early spring, when the growth of new roots begins.
Watering:
Almost all the year the precipitation is moderate, except for a few months in late spring and summer, when the amount of precipitation increases.
Fertilizer:
The plants should be fertilized every week or every two weeks 1/4-1/2 of the recommended dose of fertilizer for orchids.
Rest period:
During the whole year, the growing conditions undergo very small fluctuations. If Dracula bella are grown at temperatures lower than indicated, or if there is less light, they may not tolerate too much water.
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