Vanilla oroana Dodson 2003 SUBGENUS Vanilla

Plant and Flowers in situ Photos by © A J Perez and The Research Gate Website

TYPE Drawing Drawing by © Dodson and The Epidendra Website

Common Name The Oro Vanilla [A Province of Ecuador]

Flower Size 3.6" [9 cm]

Found in El Oro province of Ecuador at elevations around 1000 meters as a large sized, warm growing viney epiphyte with scandent, thick, robust stems carrying elliptic to oblong-elliptic, acute to apiculate, fleshy, pendulous leaves that blooms in the spring on a to 18" [45 cm] long inflorescence, similar to the vegetative stems but with a flower in each axil of the leaf-like floral bracts and carrying green flowers with a white lip.

"Vanilla oroana is a member of the membranaceous group. It is a large vine, flowering at apex up to 18 m tall, with a very long inflorescence bearing large foliaceous bracts up to 4.4 x 2.6" [110 × 65 mm]. The large flowers have contorted tepals and the lip is covered with papillae and the apex is 5 keeled. Its sepals and petals are green, and its lip white, with yellow-orange lamella on apical lobe. Its nearest relatives seem to be the members of the V. mexicana complex."

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Orquideologia Vol 22 #3 pg 210 Dodson 2003 drawing fide; Lankesteriana 9(3): 355-398 Soto Arenas & Cribb 2010; Orquideas de Farallones de Cali Galindo-Tarazona, Haelterman, Zuluaga Trochez and Sebastian Moreno 2020 photo fide

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