Vendor: Ecuagenera

References: IOSPE

Award Description:
Six flowers and 8 buds on 29 sequential inflorescences, some decumbent, others arching; sepals white, pubescent, stippled burgundy distally, leaving a central halo, caudae erect, burgundy; petals minute, white with burgundy spot apically, burgundy stripes basally; lip white, hinged and sharply cupped, 3 keels, inner rim dentate; column and anther cap white; substance moderate; texture crystalline; judges noted that flowers were partially dehydrated upon photographing and caudae were no longer straight.

jdharpst:
Joe, I hope you are doing well. Thank you for all the work that you and the other SITF committee members do for the AOS. I was hoping the SITF might be willing to reevaluate an award as I have additional information and higher resolution photographs for award number 20252417. I reached out to the vendor for help with identification (see below for Hugo's message) and hope that the new photographs showing the lip in greater detail might help in confirming the validity of the tag. The additional photos are attached.
Sincerely, Jason Harpster

From: Hugo Medina
Date: Thu, Sep 4, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Subject: Re: Dracula identification help
To: Ivan Portilla
Cc: jdharpst
Dear Jason, It is true that Draculas pollinate very easily in cultivation, producing natural hybrids, but it is not common to see them growing on their own, unless they are reproduced in a laboratory. In the case of your Dracula ripleyana, I personally believe that it is, as the lip in the photo and the one in the description are identical.

Ivan,
I was hoping you could point me in the right direction on a dracula question. In May of this year, I had a Dracula ripleyana given a provisional quality award that has since been nullified due to findings from the Species Identification Task Force.
My concern is that the pictures that were submitted to the SITF were not that clear, especially of the lip which was the source of some debate as you can read in the article. I have since taken additional pictures that show these features a little better. Do you think the plant pictured is a true Dracula ripleyana or do you agree with the SITF's findings that it is likely a hybrid? I am not sure that I agree with their findings about the lip, though this flower is definitely more hirsute than other examples of the species. I know draculas readily hybridize when grown together and that there is a chance that this is a spontaneous hybrid. There are not any registered hybrids with ripleyana. What are your thoughts; do you think this plant tag is accurate?