The 'Dracula' Orchid That Wildlife Traders Just Won't Leave Alone
Dracula orchids, native to the Andean cloud forests, are facing a severe threat of extinction due to illegal wildlife trade driven by their viral popularity on social media. Despite their fame, conservationists warn that these plants remain poorly studied and critically endangered.
Why it matters
This highlights the unintended negative consequences of social media trends on biodiversity and the urgent need for conservation efforts for rare plant species.
Add ScienceAlert on Google (Will H/500px/Getty Images) In the misty cloud forests of the Andes, there's one particular genus that wildlife traders can't get enough of.
It's not a primate or reptile – no, the target is something subtler and a little spookier: dracula orchids .
They look and sound like they should be named for blood.
But the genus actually takes its name from the Latin for "little dragon", thanks to their long, dark, fang-like sepals .
When the first species was taken from Colombia's Western Andes in 1871, 19th-century botanists described the flowers as "grotesque and whimsical," provoking what one called "irresistible attraction."
Orchid hunters started shipping them to European greenhouses almost immediately.
The orchids are viral online not only for their spooky name and gothic appearance, but because they seem to resemble a 'monkey face' in their sepals.
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