Richard, your selection is stunning!! I love it!
The Bonatea speciosa looks like something out of a sci fi movie, very interesting!
The Draculas are great, I wish I could grow some of them!
Beautiful Dendrochilums!
Regarding the Lepanthes calodictyon- such a beautiful well grown plant! It looks like you grow it mounted and totally open/not in a Wardian case or similar?
Thank you so much for sharing!
If I am permitted to answer Bill's question - regarding the pollination of Draculas.
The pollination of Dracula chestertonii is nicely described by Roman Kaiser ( Fragrance and Flavor Chemist at Roche/Givaudan )
The flowers emit a mushroom-like scent and the large lip is somewhat similar to a certain fungus cap with that same smell, attracting the female of a particular fungus-fly which gets duped into laying her eggs on the presumed mushroom cap. Pollinium gets stuck during this process on the fungus fly and on the visit to another bloom gets transferred to the stigma of that one.
According to Kaiser some other Draculas are similarly pollinated.
I have smelled very few Draculas flowers, but I am wondering if some are also pollinated by small carrion flies, looking at the dark reddish colors and lots of fine hair on some.
