subject: The Vanilla Orchid [print this page] Vanilla is overwhelmingly widespread as a food additive. In fact, the word 'vanilla' is now a colloquial term for something boring or mundane. This is a sad state for vanilla, which has a rich history and a unique story. It all starts with the orchid genus Vanilla.
Vanilla orchids are climbing vines that wind their way up supporting trees or poles; they have thin stems that can reach more than 115 feet in length. Short, dark green leaves alternate along these stems; in some species they are thick and fleshy, and in others the leaves are mere scale-like growths. There are even a few species which are entirely leafless, and photosynthesis occurs through the stems alone.
The orchid flowers are indeterminate in their growth; this means that they will bloom and produce flowers until killed by external factors. The flowers appear on the stem in a raceme pattern, developing from the base of the stem up towards the tip, and arranged so that each flower grows on the opposite side of the vine from its predecessor. One vanilla vine might produce 100 flowers in a season, with each flower having a very short stalk. The Vanilla flowers exist for only a brief time and this has made them highly prized. They are white and green, with large leaves and a bell-like lip. After they've been alive for six months the flowers bloom only a single time: lasting for only part of a day, they open in the morning and close in the afternoon, the flowering then over.
Another thing that makes Vanilla flowers unique is their pollination process. The flowers can self-fertilize, possessing both male and female organs, but cannot do so naturally. If the flowers are not pollinated during their brief open period, they will shed. Vanilla is naturally pollinated by one species of Melipona honeybee (as well as a few hummingbird species), which lives exclusively in Mexico; before the discovery of artificial pollination, there was no other way to cultivate the plant. For several hundred years this advantage gave Mexico a monopoly in vanilla production.
One Vanilla flower produces exactly one fruit--the vanilla bean. This fleshy capsule is not a true bean, but rather a seed pod. Each bean on the vine matures at its own rate, so plants must be harvested daily and everything has to be picked by hand. Vanilla cultivars must hand-pollinate their plants by carefully lifting the membrane that separates the male anther and female stigma organs, then applying the pollen from one to the other with their thumb. It is extremely labor-intensive work, which is part of why natural vanilla is so expensive.
There are about 100 species in the Vanilla genus, found in the tropical regions all over the world. An ideal temperatures for growth is between 59-86 F during the daytime and 59-68 F during the night, and it thrives in humid, hot climates. While it is difficult to produce, aficionados will confirm that there's truly nothing that can compare to the taste and smell of real vanilla!
