Name: Gongora latisepala Rolfe
Etymology: Gongora = named in honor of Antonio Caballero y Góngora, a Spanish bishop and viceroy of New Granada; latisepala = broad-sepaled (Latin latus = broad, sepalum = sepal — referring to the strikingly broad sepals of this species).
First described: 1918 by Robert Allen Rolfe in the Kew Bulletin (1918: 145).
Origin / Distribution: Colombia.
Location / Habitat: Growing epiphytically in moist, tropical lowland and montane rainforests of the Andean region at warm to warm-intermediate temperatures and consistently high humidity.
Description & Notes: Gongora latisepala is a medium-sized epiphyte with strongly ribbed, ovate pseudobulbs, each bearing two large, folded leaves at the apex. The long, slender inflorescence grows steeply downwards through the substrate and produces numerous complexly shaped, pendulous flowers. The flowers possess the orientation typical of the genus, being upside down (resupinate), with strongly recurved, broad sepals and a waxy, usually yellowish to reddish-brown spotted lip that emits an intensely spicy fragrance.

For cultivation, the species must be grown in hanging baskets with fine to medium-sized bark substrate or Sphagnum moss to allow the pendulous inflorescence to emerge unhindered. It requires partial shade conditions without direct sunlight, as well as warm to intermediate temperatures year-round. During active growth, it requires abundant watering and high humidity; after the shoots have matured, watering should be slightly reduced without allowing the pseudobulbs to shrink significantly.