Vanilla rebecae Archila & Chiron 2019 SUBGENUS VanillaPhoto by © Fredy Archila

Common Name Rebeca's Vanilla [Guatemalan Dr Rebeca Menchaca, researcher in the genus Vanilla]

Flower Size 3.5" [8.12 cm]

Found in Alta Verapaz department of Guatemala at elevations around 800 meters as a large sized, warm growing, climbing epiphyte with stems with many internodes carrying thin, membraneous, ellliptic, obtuse, sessile base leaves that blooms in the summer on a several inflorescence.

Similar to V inodora but the new species differs in the flower smaller (up to 1.48" [3.7 cm] long vs. 1.8 to 2" [4.5-5 cm]), sepals and petals flat (vs. twisted), dorsal sepal elliptic (vs. linear lanceolate), lateral sepals much wider, strongly veined (vs. almost not veined), petals rounded at the apex (vs. subobtuse), lip slightly trilobed (vs. deeply trilobed) with shorter lateral lobes, midlobe apically rounded (vs. sub-acute), ovary somewhat curved geniculate in the upper part (vs. straight), fruit shorter (Fig. 4 & 5). Moreover, Vanilla rebecae is know hitherto only from Alta Verapaz in the center of the country whereas Vanilla inodora is present, in Guatemala, in the departments of the southern coast." Archila & Chiron 2019

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Richardiana, N.S. 3: 74 Archila & Chiron 2019 Notes on Mesoamerican orchids. I: Vanilla, with a new species; Drawing/photo fide; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018

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