Judging Draculas

Tom Etheridge is a judge in the Pacific Northwest Judging Center and has been growing orchids for over 40 years. He has an infectious passion for the genus Dracula, and developed this webinar based on over 25 years of growing and exhibiting the species and hybrids of this often-misunderstood genus. After giving a brief summary of the taxonomic history of Dracula, Tom’s presentation addresses the following judging topics:

·       Measuring the sepal width to determine the fullness of the flower

·       Though there is a Pleurothallid scale on the form for judging the quality of a flower, that scale does not consider the second most prominent floral part of this genus, namely the lip. The General scale is better suited to the genus and its flowers

·       Dracula flowers react poorly to low humidity and high temperatures so it’s important for judges and photographers to work quickly and efficiently to ensure that the flowers remain as fresh as possible throughout the judging process.

Tom uses eight highly awarded species to support these points. While doing so, he also talks about how we as judges might approach cultural awards by talking about two distinct flowering habits within the genus, that being the large flowered species which bloom sequentially, and the small flowered species which typically bear only a single flower on their inflorescences.