Vanilla (orchid)

Vanilla, the vanilla orchids, form a flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...

 of about 110 species

Species

In biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....

 in the orchid family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...

 (Orchidaceae

Orchidaceae

Orchidaceae, the Orchid family, is the largest family of the flowering plants . Its name is derived from the genus Orchis....

). The most widely known member is the Flat-leaved Vanilla (V. planifolia), from which commercial vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla native to Mexico. Etymologically, vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod. Originally cultivated by Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican peoples, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is credited with introducing both the spice and...

 flavoring is derived. It is the only orchid widely used for industrial purposes (in the food industry and in the cosmetic industry). Another species often grown commercially but not on an industrial scale is the Pompona Vanilla (V. pompona).

This evergreen genus occurs worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions, from tropical America to tropical Asia, New Guinea and West Africa. It was known to the Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Often the term...

s for its flavoring qualities. The genus was established in 1754 by Plumier, based on J. Miller. The name came from the Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...

 word "vainilla", diminutive form of "vaina" (meaning "sheath

Sheath

Sheath may refer to:* Sheath dress, a type of dress* Scabbard, a container for a sword or other large blade* Condom, a kind of contraception* Vagina, the internal structure of the female genitalia* Koteka, a penis sheath worn by some natives of New Guinea...

"), which is in turn derived from Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...

 "vagina

Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...

".

Description

This genus of vine

Vine

The term vine may refer to a climbing or trailing plant. The word, derived from Latin vīnea, in the original sense referred to the grapevines . The modern extended sense is mostly restricted to North American English, which uses "grapevine" to refer to the grape-bearing Vitis species...

-like plants has a monopodial

Monopodial

Vascular plants with monopodial growth habits grow upward from a single point. They add leaves to the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly...

 climbing habitus

Habitus

Habitus is a complex concept, but in its simplest usage could be understood as a structure of the mind characterized by a set of acquired schemas, sensibilities, dispositions and taste . The particular contents of the habitus are the result of the objectification of social structure at the level of...

. They can form long thin stems with a length of more than 35 m, with alternate leaves

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...

 spread along their length. The short, oblong, dark green leaves of Vanilla are thick and leathery, even fleshy in some species. But there are also a significant number of species that have their leaves reduced to scale

Scale (zoology)

In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...

s or have become nearly or totally leafless and appear to use their green climbing stems for photosynthesis

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of Bacteria, but not in Archaea...

. Long and strong aerial root

Aerial root

"Pneumatophore" redirects here. It is also a name for the air bladder of the Portuguese Man o' War.Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious...

s grow from each node.

The racemose

Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...

 inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

s short-lived flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...

s arise successively on short peduncle

Peduncle

The term peduncle has several meanings:*Peduncle , a stalk supporting an inflorescence*Cerebral peduncle, a band of neurons, resembling a stalk, which connect varied parts of the brain...

s from the leaf axils or scales. There may be up to 100 flowers on a single raceme, but usually no more than 20. The flowers are quite large and attractive with white, green, greenish yellow or cream colors. The flowers' sepal

Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Sepals in most flowers are green and lie under the more conspicuous petals. As a collective unit the sepals form a calyx, whereas the collection of petals is called the corolla...

s and petal

Petal

A petal is one member or part of the corolla of a flower. The corolla is the name for all of the petals of a flower; the inner perianth whorl, term used when this is not the same in appearance as the outermost whorl and is used to attract pollinators based on its bright color...

s are similar. The lip

Labellum

The labellum is part of an Orchid, Canna or other less known flower that serves to attract insects that pollinate the flower, and acts as a landing platform for those insects....

 is tubular-shaped and surrounds the long, bristly column

Column (botany)

The column, or technically the gynostemium, is a reproductive structure that can be found in several plant families: Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Stylidiaceae....

, opening up, as the bell of a trumpet, at its apex. The anther is at the top of the column and hangs over the stigma, separated by the rostellum. Most Vanilla flowers have a sweet scent.

Blooming occurs only when the flowers are fully grown. Each flower opens up in the morning and closes late in the afternoon on the same day, never to re-open. If pollination

Pollination

Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilization and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...

 has not occurred meanwhile, it will be shed. The flowers are self-fertile but need pollinators to perform this task. The flowers are presumed to be pollinated by stingless bee

Stingless bee

Stingless bees, or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees, comprising the tribe Meliponini in the family Apidae, and closely related to the common honey bees, carpenter bees, orchid bees and bumblebees...

s (e.g. Melipona

Melipona

Melipona is a genus of stingless bees. These are widespread in warm areas of the Neotropics, from Sinaloa and Tamaulipas to Tucumán and Misiones . At least 40 species are known....

) and certain hummingbird

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are among the smallest of birds, and include the smallest extant bird species, the Bee Hummingbirds. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 12-90 times per second . They can also fly backwards, and are the only group of birds able to do so. Their English name derives...

s, which visit the flowers primarily for nectar. But hand pollination

Hand pollination

Hand pollination is a technique used when natural, or open pollination is insufficient or undesirable. The most common techniques are for crops such as cucurbits, which may exhibit poor pollination by fruit abortion, fruit deformity or poor maturation...

 is the most reliable method in commercially grown Vanilla.

The fruit is termed "vanilla bean", though true bean

Bean

Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....

s are fabaceae

Fabaceae

Fabaceae or Leguminosae is a large and economically important family of flowering plants, which is commonly known as the legume family, pea family, bean family or pulse family. The name 'Fabaceae' comes from the defunct genus Faba, now included into Vicia...

n eudicots not at all closely related to orchids. Rather, the vanilla fruit is technically an elongate, fleshy and later dehiscent capsule

Capsule (fruit)

In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a dehiscent structure composed of two or more carpels, that, at maturity, split apart to release the seeds within...

 10-20 cm long. It ripens gradually for 8 to 9 months after flowering, eventually turning black in color and giving off a strong aroma. Each pod contains thousands of minute seed

Seed

A seed , referred to as a kernel in some plants, is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s, but it is the pod that is used to create vanilla flavoring.

Vanilla species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes moths and butterflies. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species, such as the wooly bear moth

Arctiidae

Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths , which usually have bright colours, footmen , lichen moths and wasp moths...

s Hypercompe eridanus and H. icasia. Vanilla plantations require some sort of tree planting for the orchids to climb up on; off-season or when abandoned, they may serve as habitat for animals of open forest, e.g. on the Comoros

Comoros

The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique...

 for Robert Mertens' Day Gecko

Robert Mertens' day gecko

Robert Mertens' day gecko is diurnal species of geckos. It lives on the Comoros and typically inhabits banana trees. Robert Merten's day gecko feeds on insects and nectar. It is named after German herpetologist Robert Mertens.- Description :This lizard species is one of the smallest of its...

 (Phelsuma robertmertensi).

Species

The taxonomy of the genus Vanilla is unclear. This is a partial list of species or synonyms:

• Vanilla aphylla
  Vanilla aphylla
  Vanilla aphylla is a species of vanilla orchid. It is native to Southeast Asia. It is found throughout Southeast Asia including; Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Like all members of the genus Vanilla, V. aphyllum is a vine. It uses its fleshy roots to support itself as it grows....
  
  – Leafless Vanilla
• Vanilla barbellata – Small Bearded Vanilla, Wormvine Orchid, "snake orchid", "leafless vanilla"
• Vanilla chamissonis
  Vanilla chamissonis
  Vanilla chamissonis, commonly known as the Chamisso's Vanilla, is a species of orchid occurring from French Guyana to northeastern Argentina.-External links:*...
  
  – Chamisso's Vanilla
• Vanilla claviculata – Green Withe
• Vanilla dilloniana – Dillon's Vanilla, "leafless vanilla"
• Vanilla edwallii – Edwall's Vanilla
• Vanilla mexicana – Mexican Vanilla
• Vanilla odorata – Inflated Vanilla
• Vanilla phaeantha – Leafy Vanilla
• Vanilla pilifera
  Vanilla pilifera
  Vanilla pilifera is a species of vanilla orchid. It is native to Southeast Asia.-Distribution:Vanilla pilifera is found only in Malay Peninsula and peninsular Thailand. Vanilla pilifera is cultivated at the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden...
  
  
• Vanilla planifolia
  Vanilla planifolia
  Vanilla planifolia is a species of vanilla orchid. It is native to Mexico, and is one of the primary sources for vanilla flavouring, due to its high vanillin content. Common names are Flat-leaved Vanilla, Tahitian Vanilla , and West Indian Vanilla...
  
  – Flat-leaved Vanilla, Tahitian Vanilla, "West Indian vanilla"
• Vanilla poitaei – Poiteau's Vanilla
• Vanilla pompona – Pompona Vanilla, Guadeloupe Vanilla, "West Indian vanilla"
• Vanilla siamensis – Thai Vanilla

External links

• Overview of Vanilla, from King's American Dispensatory, 1898
• All you ever wanted to know about vanilla but were afraid to ask
• World Checklist of Vanilla at Kew