 Jill Cowley notes that "for many years" a different species, "R. auriculata", was grown in gardens under the name "R. purpurea".She provides a number of distinguishing features, which include the auriculate nature of the leaves of "R. auriculata", the bright purple colour of its flowers rather than the paler colours of typical "R. purpurea", the relatively shorter white lateral staminodes of "R. auriculata", and the latter's deflexed (bent back) labellum."R.