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Dracula vampira Seeks Fanged Nepenthes Companion, Offers Division of Self

A little over a year ago I bought a Dracula vampira orchid at an Orchid Show in San Francisco. It came from the SF Orchid Society Booth, and did not come with a clone name. It was in bloom, and I managed to break off the spike before the end of the day. Since Draculas are successive bloomers, this was disappointing.

The plant has been growing nicely, outside all year (mostly cool and frost-free) but it has not rebloomed.

I didn't get a picture of the broken off flower until later, when it was partly faded:



I took a division tonight, leaving most of the moss intact around the roots:



At that point I realized I didn't have the right size mesh pot, so I temporarily put it in a 2 inch pot. For those not familiar with Draculas, they need to be in mesh pots, as their flower spikes are often pushed down through the medium.



For trade, I really would like to find a (new) fanged Nepenthes. Probably not pure N. bicalcarata, as I expect that requires more warmth and space than I have, but hopefully one of its hybrids. Ideally one that could live outside with the Dracula, but I don't know if that's necessary (or possible). I did have a couple N. bicalcarata hybrids back in the 90s, and I remember one or maybe both of them had fangs. I'd like to grow something like that again. So anything in the form of a seedling (hopefully large enough to tell) or a rooted/unrooted cutting.

I don't have any fascination with vampires, etc. but I thought the pairing might be kind of fun.

For those not familiar with Draculas, Dracula vampira is from near the equator, about 2000 m, in Ecuador, in the cloudforests. So it probably would fit right in with highland or ultra-highland Nepenthes.
 
I can't think of any N. bicalcarata crosses that held the fanged trait but I could be wrong.

Dracula vampira is a awesome orchid though - I love the Pleurothallid alliance! :)
 
I used to grow such a hybrid, although I don't remember the other parent. Someone was selling seedlings, probably the early 90s. I think it was Tom Kahl. Surely someone else grew some of those.
 
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Ah, too early for me. I didn't get my first Nepenthes until Easter of 1999 or 2000 when I got a N. Ventrata cutting from my hippie uncle Harold, it's all his fault! LOL
 
I found this on an old archive of the CP mailing list describing some of the seedlings Tom was selling:

"Seedling Nepenthes 2-4"
leafspread $5.00 each any of these varieties; N. gracilis, N. alata, N.
rokko3x dyeriana]x spathulata, N. burkeii x truncata, N.balmy koto
xdreamy koto, N. bicalcarata x [either khasiana,dreamy koto,nagoya or
rokko3 x thorelli aglow koto]"


A different post by Tom suggests that N. bicalcarata x (rokko3 x thorelli aglow koto) did indeed have fangs:

"The later male parent has good shrubby compact growth with a flaired peristome and alot of red color in the pitcher. The cross has a striped peristome with red fangs on a compact plant."

I still have N. burkei x truncata and the timing (1995) is right, so I'm pretty sure it's the correct list. The plants were very nice and the prices were great.
 
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I thought it would make sense to simply the parentage of the hybrid that I had before with fangs, given as N. bicalcarata x (rokko3 x thorelli aglow koto). From a little searching, 'Aglow Koto' is N. thorelii x N. thorelii, so that's likely just a cultivar name for N. thorelli. I don't know whether 'Rokko 3' is smilesii x maxima or whether it's a remake with thorelii x maxima.

The two possibilities, if I understand this correctly are either:

N. bicalcarata x [(N. smilesii x N. maxima) x N. thorelii]

OR

N. bicalcarata x [(N. thorelii x N. maxima) x N. thorelii]

Whichever it was, I actually bought two of the seedlings. One died under my care. The other one I gave to someone else, then in Lakewood, CA, now in San Diego. It's possible it's still alive with him or someone else. Perhaps others bought one of these and have kept it alive since then? I'm not necessarily looking for that clone, it's just that it is one which is known to have the fangs. Plus, if it is indeed rare for the fangs to be present in hybrids, it's worth knowing which cross(es) keep them if people are making new hybrids.
 
Since fanged hybrids seem to be hard to come by, I think it makes sense to expand the plants I'm looking for to include other Nepenthes, primarily highland species/hybrids, although I'm certainly willing to be convinced with N. bicalcarata. Perhaps it can be kept in check, at least for a while?

I'm also open for the right trade of fresh, likely to be viable Nepenthes seeds, again with a preference for cool growers.

I'll mention when the plant is no longer available. Assume it is until I give an update. It wouldn't hurt for it to become better established over a period of weeks or even months, anyway.
 
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