Gongora galeata [Lindley]Rchb.f. 1854 SECTION Acropera

Flower Closeup

Flower closeup, another view Photo courtesy of Jay Pfahl

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Common Name The Helmut Gongora

Flower Size 2" [5 cm]

This is a medium sized, Mexican epiphytic, rarely lithophytic or terrestrial species found in mountain rain and cloud forests with liquambar at altitudes of 600 to 1800 meters that grows hot to warm and is suited for wire basket culture with sphagnum and woodchips with ovoid-pyriform, longitudinally sulcate pseudobulbs with 2 apical, plicate, petiolate, elliptic, acuminate, leaves that blooms in the summer and fall with basal 6 to 8" [15 to 20 cm] long, pendant, many flowered, racemose inflorescences arising on a mature pseudobulb and havinga short to long-lived, fragrant flower with a fragrance akin to oranges. It is an evergreen species and requires a semi dry rest in the winter.

Synonyms Acropera atropurpurea hort ex Heynh. 1841; Acropera citrina Rchb.f. 1854; Acropera flavida Klotzsch 1851; Acropera fuscata Heynh. 1846; Acropera loddigesii Lindley 1833; Acropera luteola Heynh. 1846; Acropera luteola Drapiez 1840; Acropera pallida Heynh. 1846; Acropera purpurea Heynh. 1846; Acropera sulphurea Heynh. 1846; Gongora fuscata (Heynh.) Gentil 1907; *Maxillaria galeata Lindley 1842

References W3 Tropicos [http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html] , Kew Monocot list [ http://www.kew.org/wcsp/home.do ], IPNI [ http://www.us.ipni.org/ipni/plantsearch?request_type=search&output_format=query&ret_defaults=on Icones Orchidacearum I Plate 44 Hagsater and Salazar 1990; Guia Ilustrada Para la Clasificacion del Genero Gongora Toulemonde 2001;

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Gongora galeata [Lindley]Rchb.f. var alba 1854

An alba form of the previous species.