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Orchidaceae
Vanilla Orchid
Vanilla planifolia
Sweetness, allure, hidden flavor.
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Genus
- Vanilla
- Native to
- Mexico, Central America
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- Climbing epiphytic orchid
- Height
- Vine to 15+ m
- Sunlight
- Bright filtered light
- Soil
- Coarse bark, very free-draining
- Water
- Moderate; high humidity
- Hardiness
- 10–12
- Lifespan
- Decades
Did you know
- Vanilla is the only orchid grown commercially for food — its dried seed pods are the source of vanilla flavoring used worldwide.
- Each flower opens for just one morning and must be hand-pollinated within hours, which is why real vanilla is one of the most expensive spices on Earth.
- Vanilla was discovered by the Totonac people of Mexico and adopted by the Aztecs, who flavored their cacao drinks with it long before Europeans arrived.
- Outside Mexico, vanilla didn't produce pods for centuries because its native pollinator — a specific Melipona bee — wasn't present, until a 12-year-old enslaved boy named Edmond Albius invented hand pollination in 1841.
- Madagascar now produces over 80% of the world's vanilla, all hand-pollinated using Edmond's method.
Color meanings
Yellow
Fragrant promise