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By: Carlos Olimpo Restrepo S. Journalist at UdeA Communications Department  

A new jewel of the country's biodiversity was discovered in Urrao. It is a species of orchid from the Dracula genus that had been misclassified for decades. After years of study, researchers from UdeA, with the support of other experts, reported it as new to science and named it Dracula colombiana, the first of its kind to bear the nationality in its name. The academics requested its inclusion as an endangered species on the global Red List due to threats to its ecosystem and illegal trafficking. 

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Dracula colombiana flower is between two and three centimeters in diameter at its center. Photo: courtesy.  

According to the International Institute of Biotechnology, affiliated with the University of Arizona, USA, between 15,000 and 20,000 new living species, such as animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms, are described on Earth each year. Some of these findings may undergo reclassification or be a "variety camouflaged" in another, and their true identity is established after months or years of study by specialists. 

This is the case of Dracula colombiana, an orchid that was recently reclassified from Dracula benedictii. Thanks to the efforts of three UdeA students and researchers from Universidad de Las Américas in Quito, Ecuador, and Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, it now has its own identity and a name that reflects its origin. 

It all started on July 14, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Eduar Durango, now a graduate of the UdeA Animal Science program and an amateur botanist, was hiking with some friends in an Urrao village, southwestern Antioquia. Around 3:00 p.m., in a densely forested area, he noticed several plants hanging from a tree branch at a medium height. He could see their elongated, thin leaves and tiny flowers in detail. He identified it as a Dracula orchid, though he was sure he'd never seen any other species with this type of flower before. 

"After we left the forest, the first thing I did was send photos to some friends in Medellín, and the surprise was that they weren't familiar with the plant either, so they set about researching it and consulting with other scientists," Durango emphasized. 

The animal scientist was talking about Esteban Domínguez and Santiago Mesa, biology students at UdeA’s Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences and enthusiasts of Colombian Andean orchids. Esteban Domínguez is also a member of the University Herbarium (HUA). "Dracula is one of the most studied genera of orchids in Colombia, and to risk saying that there was a new species very close to an urban area was bold and crazy. The site where it was first spotted is about five kilometers from the municipal seat of Urrao. That's why we had to be very thorough and rigorous," said Esteban Domínguez, who is in the ninth semester of his undergraduate degree. 

After consulting Nicolás Peláez, a prominent biologist and UdeA graduate, and Gary E. Meyer, an orchid collector and grower, they confirmed that other researchers had already attempted to register an individual of this plant as a new species. However, since they did not have the holotype —a unique specimen collected in its natural habitat, not in a greenhouse, which should be in a herbarium and serves as a reference for the scientific description of the species— they could not proceed. 

However, the young scientists at UdeA did have the holotype, which they collected in Urrao and brought to the HUA. They also started searching in herbaria and cultures from Ecuador and Colombia, where they found some specimens classified as Dracula benedictii, with characteristics similar to the Urrao specimen. Afterward, they consulted with other researchers and, with them, decided to propose to the botanical community that it was a new species. 

Based on the University Herbarium collection, 26 new plant species were described in 2024, including work by UdeA undergraduate and graduate students, professors, and both national and international scientists. 

The characteristics that make it different 

Main parts of the Dracula colombiana flower. Photo: courtesy.  

Orchids are numerous plants on Earth, especially in tropical areas. According to various international botanical research centers, around 35,000 natural species and approximately 60,000 hybrids produced in nurseries have been reported. They belong to the Orchidaceae family, which includes about 800 genera, such as Dracula spp. 

According to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, there are 4,270 registered species in Colombia, 1,572 of which are considered exclusive, while in the Andean region, there are 2,542, 944 of which are endemic.  
 
Also featured in the publication by students Domínguez and Mesa in the scientific journal Phytotaxa are Luis Baquero, from the Biodiversity, Environment, and Health Research Group, affiliated with Universidad de Las Américas’ Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences in Ecuador, and Edicson Parra Sánchez, a Colombian associated with the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and Conservation Research. All of them are botanists recognized for their work on orchids. 

The text, published in June 2025, indicated that the new species is an epiphyte, that is, a plant that grows on others and takes water from the environment with its aerial roots. It is endemic to the western Colombian Andes and grows on mossy trunks of trees in humid, shady and dense cloud forests between 1,700 and 2,300 meters above sea level, where a great variety of orchids are concentrated. 

From the first time they saw it, researchers were clear that the Urrao specimen belonged to the genus Dracula (little dragon), a worldwide name used since 1978 to refer to some of these plants, whose flowers can resemble the face of the mythical animal or the wings of a bat, and their color is similar to human blood. 

As mentioned above, it was classified for years as Dracula benedictii in herbaria, private collections, and commercial nurseries. However, the students were able to identify some distinguishing features that are not easy for the average person to notice, and they gave it the specific name Dracula colombiana after considering that this country has the most species of this genus in the world —about 90 of the nearly 130 identified— and that this is an addition to the 75 Dracula varieties endemic to Colombia. 

Its flower is small and compact, between two and three centimeters in diameter at the center, with tails or spurs that can reach up to seven centimeters. Its leaves are thin and erect, with a fine, leathery texture that resembles polished leather. In young plants, leaves reach 10 centimeters in length, while in mature specimens, they can reach 30 centimeters. The roots are thin, cylindrical, and aerial to facilitate water absorption in cloudy environments. 

Among the differentiating aspects, the scientists highlighted that Dracula colombiana exhibits a longer epichile (upper part of the petal) compared to the hypochile (lower part), while in D. benedictii, the opposite is true. The color of the lip, which protrudes from the center of the flower, is a deep, uniform pink in the former, in contrast with the white and pinkish nuances of the latter. The sepals of the new species are cream-colored, have reddish papillae, and fine hairs that give it a velvety texture, while in the other species, they are white, with dark purple papillae and a warty, hairless surface. 

As for the general physical appearance, the Dracula colombiana flower is more globose and less deep, while that of the Dracula Benedictii is more rounded and cup-shaped. It also has two dark spots behind the petals, a feature absent in the new species. 

An endangered species 

In addition to describing it as a new species, the researchers proposed including it in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in the Endangered (EN) category, given its high risk of extinction in its natural habitat. 

This is because its distribution is very restricted, with only a few confirmed locations in Antioquia, Risaralda, and Quindío, where it has been recorded. Furthermore, it grows in fragmented cloud forests, ecosystems threatened by agricultural and urban expansion, and none are within areas with any natural protection. 

The illegal orchid market was also considered since Dracula is one of the most trafficked genera. Within this, Dracula benedictii, which has included Dracula colombiana for years, is one of the most commercialized, even though these species are very difficult to reproduce outside their habitat. This is evidence of the clandestine extraction of specimens from nature. 

Therefore, including it on the Red List seeks to draw the attention of environmental authorities and the public to adopt measures such as protecting forested areas with registered populations and enabling researchers to conduct studies to deepen their understanding of the plant’s ecology in the near future. 

"We're not proposing specific management or conservation actions with the inclusion of the Dracula colombiana on the Red List. The goal is to generate a baseline that serves as a starting point for other agencies to issue recommendations and design more precise measures," emphasized Santiago Mesa, a graduate of the UdeA biology program. 

 
Dracula colombiana, left, compared to Dracula benedictii. The newly described species is lighter in color than the other. Photo: courtesy 

UdeA Herbarium, essential to support the identification of new species 

Felipe Cardona Naranjo, coordinator of the UdeA Herbarium (HUA), explained that these biological collections serve a vital function for botanical researchers: They are repositories of the country's and the world's plant diversity. These types of storage facilities house specimens that serve as scientific references, some of which are cataloged as "holotypes," the official specimens that validate a species' name globally. 

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"In this case, the type specimen of the Dracula colombiana is in the Universidad de Antioquia Herbarium. Any researcher who wishes to study this orchid must refer to our reference specimen," Cardona noted. 

The HUA archives house thousands of plants collected over 57 years, many of which remain unidentified, waiting for a specialist to conduct a thorough examination. "A sample can be stored for 10, 20, or even 50 years without anyone knowing it belongs to a new species," said Felipe Cardona.  
 
Thanks to the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs at UdeA’s Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, more and more students are specializing in plant families such as orchids, legumes, and magnolias, among others. Their dedication has allowed previously misclassified or unknown species to come to light. 

"The herbarium functions like a large living library. What we do is safeguard these records and make them available to science. Thus, we discovered that what has been there for years was actually a new species," Cardona concluded