RHH's photos with the keyword: clown

This is one of those orchid names that makes me laugh. There is a whole group of orchids, well over a hundred species, called Draculas, named for their odd flowers and their fancied resemblance to a dragon's mouth. They are related to Masdevallia and belong to the group of Central and South American orchids known as Pleurothallids. This is from Ecuador. The name of this species is especially humorous since lotax means "clown," so that it is literally the "Clown Dracula," which is rather incongruous. It is so named, however, because it has a little clown's face in the center of the flower. It is the name Dracula that really does not fit, since this miniature species does not have the dark, bat-wing flowers of some other species in the genus.

The Draculas are named for the fancied resemblance of many of the flowers to bats, not evident in this case. Indeed, this species has the name "lotax," which means clown, rather a strange combination with Dracula, though there is a kind of clown face in the center of the flower. It also is from Ecuador. More photos and information here: orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2012/09/dracula-lotax.html