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Vanilla planifolia
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Family:
ORCHIDACEAE
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Citation: Vanilla planifolia Andr., Bot. Repos. 8: 538. 1809; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 680. 2009.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Vanila
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Vanila, Vanilla Orchid
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Description:
Fleshy herbaceous perennial vine, climbing up trees to a height of 10-15 m by means of long, whitish adventitious roots, opposite the leaves; stem long, cylindrical, simply or branched, succulent, 1-2 cm in diameter, dark green. Leaves alternate, 8-25 cm x 2-8 cm, fleshy, subsessile, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, rounded at base, acute to acuminate at top, with numerous parallel veins. Inflorescence axillary racemes, 5-8 cm long, usually 6-15-flowered. Flowers opening from the base of the inflorescence upwards, ca. 8 cm in diameter, waxy, fragrant. Sepals 3, oblong, 4-7 cm x 1-1.5 cm. Two upper petals resembling the sepals but slightly smaller. Lip trumpet-shaped, 4-5 x 1.5-3 cm. Column 3-5 cm long, attached to labellum, bearing at its tip 2 pollinia covered by a cap; stigma concave, separated from the pollinia by a thin flaplike rostellum. Fruit a pendulous, narrowly cylindrical capsule, 10-25 cm x 0.8-1.5 cm, obscurely 3-angled, splitting longitudinally when ripe; seeds numerous, globose, about 0.4 mm in diameter, black.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
December-April
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Cultivated
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Distribution:
Native of South East Mexico and Central America, widely cultivated in other tropical countries
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Creamy, Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Monocotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
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