This plant is an excellent match to the description of Maxillaria aurea in Eric Christenson's unfinished Monograph on Maxillaria; matches the photo of M. aurea in Kew's Plants of the World On-line (POWO); key characteristics include the narrow and acute leaves. A major defining difference between this species and M. cordyline (Aka M. gigantea), a species often confused with M. aurea, is the apices of the petals, which are clawed in M. aurea (as described in the IOSPE). Note: No lectotype was selected, although there appears to be two of the type collection that may be different species in Eric's book.