Vanilla annamica Gagnep. 1931 SUBGENUS Xanata SECTION Tethya

Photo by © Orchidata.com Website

Drawing

Drawing by © Averyanov and The orchids of Vietnam. Illustrated survey. Part 3. Subfamily Epidendroideae (primitive tribes – Neottieae, Vanilleae, Gastrodieae, Nervilieae) Website

MID

Common Name The Vietnamese Vanilla

Flower Size 1.6 to 2.4" [4 to 6 cm]

Found in Thailand, Laos, south central China and Vietnam in primary and secondary broad-leaved and mixed evergreen forests, commonly on steep slopes and cliffs composed with silicate rocks at elevations of 1000 to 1400 meters as a giant sized, cool growing epiphytic or lithphytic creeping vine with an elongate stem with 2.4 to 6" [6 to 15 cm] long internodes carrying elliptic, fleshy, shortly petiolate to subsessile base leaves that blooms in the mid winter and spring on dichasial or occasionally monochasial, each axis secund, 1.6 to 8" [4 to 20 cm] long, with 3 to 10, 2-flowered secund cymes and 1 to 3 solitary apical successively opening flowers with oval, rigid, apically rounded, concave internodal bracts and triangular, acute nodal bracts as well as broadly triangular, obtuse to acute floral bracts.

"This species was described from immature buds. However, the branched, cymose inflorescence, with two opposite flowers per cyme, and the large leaves are characteristic. Flowers structure of modern Vietnamese specimens are similar to those of V. somae, from Taiwan, with many flat papillae at the lip apex." Soto Arenas & Cribb 2010

Synonyms Miguelia annamica (Gagnep.) Aver. 2011

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Lankesteriana 9(3): 355-398 Soto Arenas & Cribb 2010; Identification of the Orchids [Orchidaceae Juss.] Vietnam Averyanov 1994 drawing fide; Turczaninowia 2011, 14(2) : 15–100 Averyanov 2011 as Miguelia annamica drawing fide

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