It was rather hard for me to find a photo of this amazing flower that did it any justice. I suppose one of my greatest frustrations during this endeavor is that I simply do not have the means to fully explain to you how crazy these orchids actually are. There is just know what I can explain how wonderful the fragrance of this orchid is. I explained it to a friend of mine as chocolate love, which is just a romanticized way of me saying that it is very sweet, with a hint of creamy chocolaty goodness.
The pendant spikes can hang as low as 18" with 6-10 flowers per spike. To me the flowers look like a dragons head as it is about to take a big bite out of something.Gongora are in the tribe Maxillarieae and the subtribe Stanhopeinae; Which just so happens to be the same subtribe as Stanhopea, and it just so happens that it attracts the same euglossine bee using the same deceptive mechanism. There habbits ranges from Columbia, Ecuador and Peru where remarkably it has been found growing in ant nests formed in trees.
Culture is relatively easy, they do best when grown in baskets using sphagnum moss. Keep them moist and keep them warm and they will do great!
Works Cited
"The Genus Gongora; Edited December 2007." The Stanhopea Pages by Nina Rach, Edited January 2010. Web. 07 Feb. 2011. <http://stanhopea.autrevie.com/Gongora.html>.
"Gongora." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 07 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongora>.
"IOSPE PHOTOS." Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia. Web. 07 Feb. 2011. <http://www.orchidspecies.com/gongsanderiana.htm>.
