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Vanilla (Spanish, little sheath or pod). Orchidaceae. Vanilla. Climbing orchids whose branched stems ascend to a height of many feet, ornamental but known mostly as the source of vanilla used for flavoring and which is produced from the seed-pods.
Nodes bearing lvs. or scales and aerial roots in alternate arrangement: fls. in axillary racemes or spikes, without an involucre at the top of the ovary; sepals and petals similar, spreading; labellum united with the column, the limb enveloping the upper portion of the latter; column not winged. — About 20 species in the tropics. The genus was monographed in 1896 by R. A. Rolfe in Journ. Linn. Soc., vol. 32.
The most important species is V. planifolia, the vanilla of commerce. It is a native of Mexico, but is now widely cultivated in the West Indies, Java, Bourbon, Mauritius, and other islands of the tropics, its chief requirement being a hot damp climate. The plants are propagated by cuttings varying in length from 2 to about 12 feet, the longer ones being the more satisfactory. These are either planted in the ground or merely tied to a tree so that they are not in direct connection with the earth. They soon send out aerial roots, by which connection with the soil is established. They are usually trained on trees so that the stems are supported by the forked branches, but posts and trellises are also used as supports. In most places where vanilla-culture is practised, pollinating insects are lacking and the flowers must be pollinated by hand. Plants bear their first fruit about three years after setting. They then continue to fruit for thirty or forty years, bearing up to fifty pods annually. The vanilla pods are picked before they are ripe, and dried. The vanillin crystallizes on the outside. For a full description of vanilla culture and methods of curing the pods, see Bulletin No. 21, United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Botany, by S. J. Galbraith. Vanillin is also made from other sources by chemical means.
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[[Image:Vanilla 6beans.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Vanilla pods]]
[[Image:Vanilla 6beans.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Vanilla pods]]
