26/08/2017
ABOUT VANILLA SPECIES
V. fragrans or vanilla planifolia is a fleshy, herbaceous perennial vine, climbing by means of adventitious roots up trees or other supports to a height of 10 – 15 meters. In cultivation it is trained to a height which will facilitate hand pollination and harvesting.
Porteres in Bouriquet (1954) describes 110 species of vanilla, distributed in the tropics of both the world and the New World. They belong to the orchid family, Orchidaceae, which is the largest family of flowering plants, with about 700 genera and 20,000 species. The Orchidaceae comprise a very natural, distinctive and highly advanced group of monocotyledons. They are perennial herbs which are widely distributed throughout the world with the greatest number in the tropics.
They exhibit a wide range of life form and have terrestrial, climbing, epiphytic and saprophytic species. Apart from the large number of ornamental species which are grown for the flowers, vanilla is the only genus which has species of economic importance.
The correct name of the commonly cultivated vanilla of commerce is Vanilla fragrans (Salisb) Ames, Syn V. planifolia Andrews, Epidendrum vanilla L. Myrobroma fragrans Salisb.
Two other species are occasionally cultivated, but yield an inferior product, they are:
V. pompana Schiede, West Indian Vanilla, which occurs wild in southeastern Mexico, Central America, Trinidad and northern South America. It is cultivated to a small extent in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Dominica. It resembles V. fragrans, but the leaves are larger, being 15 - 30 cm long and 5 – 12 cm wide. The greenish yellow flowers are larger and more fleshy, with perianth lobes up to 8.5 cm long. The lip has a tuft of intricate scales, instead of hairs in the center of the disc. The cylindrical pods are shorter and thicker, being 10 – 17.5 cm long and 2.4 – 3.3 cm in diameter.
V. tahitensis J.W. Moore, Tahitian vanilla, indigenous to Tahiti and cultivated there and in Hawaii. This species is less robust than V. Fragrans with more slender stems and narrower leaves which are 12 – 14 cm long and about 9 – 10 mm wide, tapering towards each end.