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Vanilla odorata
	Vanilla odorata illustrated by Blanche Ames
Conservation status
	; Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Vanilloideae
Genus:	Vanilla
Species:	V. odorata
Binomial name
	Vanilla odorata; C.Presl
Synonyms
	Epidendrum vermifugum Sessé & Moc.; Vanilla denticulata Pabst; Vanilla ensifolia Rolfe;

Vanilla odorata, also known as vanilla tlatepusco, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orchidaceae, native to southern Mexico, Central America, and tropical South America. With Vanilla planifolia it is a parent of the vanilla crop species Vanilla × tahitensis.

Description

Vanilla odorata is an evergreen climbing vine. The leaves are spaced at 10–12 centimeter intervals on the vines. The petiole is comparatively long at 1.5 centimeters. The leaf length is 12.5 to 20 centimeters with a width of 1 to 2.5 centimeters. The leaf shape is narrowly lanceolate, elongated at the front, rounded at the base.^[3] The leaf tip is curved. The texture of the leaves is leathery to fleshy.^[4] The narrow, long leaves are a characteristic identifying feature of Vanilla odorata, though with plants growing in shade produce somewhat broader leaves.^[5]

The short racemose inflorescence (flowering stem), measures 3–4 centimeters in length, and bears up to twelve yellowish-green flowers. The elongated bracts with pointed ends reach 1 centimeter in length. The sepals are linear to lanceolate, 4.5 to 5 centimeters long and 0.2 to 0.6 centimeters wide,^[3] though they will sometimes reach 1.1 centimeters in width.^[4]

The petals are similarly shaped, with a slightly prominent midrib. The lip grows 3.5^[3] to 4.5^[4] centimeters long. It is three-lobed, with the lateral lobes turned up tubularly and fused to the column up to half of the lip length.^[4] The anterior free part of the lip is spread, wavy and fringed at the edge. There is a scaled area in the middle of the lip. The column is club-shaped and not curved. The curved fruit grows 15 to 20 centimeters long and about 0.5 centimeters thick; and is very fragrant.^[3]

Distribution

Vanilla odorata is distributed from Mexico south throughout Central America and the northern half of South America.^[2] Some collections may be escaped cultivated specimens, as the fruits have been used for culinary use similarly to Vanilla planifolia, the most widely cultivated vanilla.^[3]

Taxonomy and history

This orchid was first described by Carl Borivoj Presl in 1826.^[2] Presl mentions that the fruits collected 36 years earlier were still fragrant when he examined them.^[3]^[6] The original scientific description was only from the fruits, according to Oakes Ames, and that a more detailed description of the plant and leaves was only written in 1895 by R. Allen Rolfe in his monograph on the genus Vanilla. Ames also reported that his publication was the first scientific description of the flower of Vanilla odorata.^[6]^[7]

Within the genus Vanilla, Vanilla odorata is placed in the subgenus Xanata and in the section Xanata, which contains only species of the Neotropics. Synonyms of Vanilla odorata include Vanilla denticulata, Vanilla ensifolia, and Vanilla uncinata. Soto Arenas and Cribb place it in the Vanilla planifolia group. Vanilla fimbriata, which is insufficiently known, is particularly similar.^[5] Vanilla odorata is considered a parent of Tahitian vanilla (Vanilla × tahitensis), from a study of its DNA.^[8]^[9]

Names

The genus name, Vanilla, derives from Spanish "vainilla" meaning little pod or capsule as a reference to the long, podlike fruits.^[10] The species name refers to the very aromatic scent of the plant's fruits. The common name is "vanilla tlatepusco".^[2]

Ecology

Along with Vanilla planifolia, Vanilla odorata is one of the few species of plant that has its seeds distributed by bees. Males bees from tribe Euglossini including Euglossa bursigera, Euglossa ignita, Euglossa tridentata, and Eulaema cingulata exhibit scent collecting behaviors on the ripe pods and in the process will pick up some of the seeds. Similarly female sweat bees of the species Trigona fulviventris have been observed removing the sticky pulp of the pods in a behavior consistent with gathering nest building materials and taking away seeds in the process. For an orchid, V. odorata has relatively large seeds and it is likely that it is dependent on distribution by bees or other animals. Distribution of seeds by other animals is not confirmed in V. odorata, but a study led by D. Adam Karremans found that V. planifolia and Vanilla pompona fruits that fall to the forest floor are consumed and viable seeds are passed by mammals including Tome's spiny rat and the common opossum.^[11]

Conservation

The IUCN has listed Vanilla odorata as "endangered" in their 2017 Red List of Threatened Species due to restricted range and not being abundant within its habitat. "The habitat quality and quantity are being continuously reduced by land use change, especially for agriculture."^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Hernández, M.; Herrera-Cabrera, B.E.; Vega, M.; Wegier, A.; Azurdia, C.; Cerén-López, J.; Menjívar, J. (16 February 2017). "Vanilla odorata". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T105878864A173976492.en. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Vanilla odorata C.Presl". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 24 June 2023. Common Name: Vainilla Tlatepusco
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Portères, Roland (1954). "Le Vanillier et la Vanille dans le Monde". In Bouriquet, Gilbert (ed.). Encyclopédie Biologique (in French). Paris: Paul Lechevalier. pp. 243–245.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Schweinfurth, Charles (1958). "Orchids of Peru". Fieldiana: Botany. 30 (1). Chicago, Ill.: Chicago Natural History Museum: 43. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^ ^a ^b Soto Arenas, Miguel A.; Cribb, Phillip (11 October 2013). "A new infrageneric classification and synopsis of the genus Vanilla Plum. ex mill. (Orchidaceae: Vanillinae)". Lankesteriana. 9 (3): 384–385. doi:10.15517/lank.v0i0.12071. S2CID 85335896.
^ ^a ^b Ames, Oakes (1925). "New or Noteworthy Orchids". Schedulae Orchidianae. 9. Boston, Massachusetts: Lawrence Press, Inc: 1–7. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
^ Rolfe, Robert Allen (1896). A Revision of the Genus Vanilla. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. pp. 445, 448, 471. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
^ Lubinsky, P.; Cameron, K. M.; Molina, M. C.; Wong, M.; Lepers-Andrzejewski, S.; Gomez-Pompa, A.; Kim, S.-C. (1 August 2008). "Neotropical roots of a Polynesian spice: the hybrid origin of Tahitian vanilla, Vanilla tahitensis (Orchidaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 95 (8): 1040–1047. doi:10.3732/ajb.0800067. PMID 21632424.
^ Favre, Félicien; Jourda, Cyril; Grisoni, Michel; Piet, Quentin; Rivallan, Ronan; Dijoux, Jean-Bernard; Hascoat, Jérémy; Lepers-Andrzejewski, Sandra; Besse, Pascale; Charron, Carine (2022). "A genome-wide assessment of the genetic diversity, evolution and relationships with allied species of the clonally propagated crop Vanilla planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews". Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 69 (6): 2125–2139. doi:10.1007/s10722-022-01362-1. S2CID 247930880.
^ Ackerman, James D. " Vanilla - FNA". Flora of North America. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
^ Karremans, Adam P.; Bogarín, Diego; Fernández Otárola, Mauricio; Sharma, Jyotsna; Watteyn, Charlotte; Warner, Jorge; Rodríguez Herrera, Bernal; Chinchilla, Isler F.; Carman, Ernesto; Rojas Valerio, Emmanuel; Pillco Huarcaya, Ruthmery; Whitworth, Andy (January 2023). "First evidence for multimodal animal seed dispersal in orchids". Current Biology. 33 (2): 364–371.e3. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.041. PMID 36521493. S2CID 254705363.