Volume 12 > Part 1 > Year 2011 > Page 268 > Orchidaceae > Vanilla

1. Vanilla albida Blume

Catalogus: 100. 1823; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 91 p.p., 1890; Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 3: 259. 1968; Seidenf., Dansk Bot. Ark. 32(2): 140, fig. 87. 1978; J.B.Comber, Orchids Java: 76. 1990; Seidenf., Opera Bot. 114: 72, t. Va, 1992; Seidenf. & J.J.Wood, Orchids Penins. Malays. Singap.: 127, fig. 52de, t. 5d. 1992; J.B.Comber, Orchids Sumatra: 130. 2001. Fig. 157; Plate XXII: 3.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Stems climbing up to several meters high, cylindric, green, 3–6 mm in diameter, longitudinally grooved; each aerial root perpendicular to a petiole. Foliage leaves lanceolate, 8–25 by 2–8 cm, apex acute to acuminate, coriaceous, glabrous; petiole 8–20 mm long. Inflorescence 3- to 10-flowered; rachis 3–4 cm long, glabrous; bracts ovate, 2–5 by 3–4 mm, persistent, coriaceous, glabrous. Flowers showy, long-pedicelled, opening widely at first, afterwards closed. Sepals glabrous, light greenish-yellow, oblanceolate, apex acute, slightly hooded; dorsal sepal 4.5–5.5 by 1.2–1.5 cm, 11- to 13-veined; lateral sepals 4.5–5.5 by 1.2–1.5 cm, 13- to 15-veined. Petals glabrous, light greenish-yellow, oblanceolate, 5–5.2 by 1.2–1.6 cm, 11- to 15-veined, with strong midvein outside, apex acute to obtuse, not hooded. Labellum white, with dark purple markings towards base inside, spathulate in outline, obscurely 3-lobed, 4–5 cm long along the mid-line, with a brush on disc opposite anther, 3–5 mm high, consisting of close transversal flat hinged scales, dented or fringed along the truncate apex, pointing downwards in the flower; side lobes rounded, adnate to the column for most of the column length, the apical margins wavy, recurved, trumpet-like, 3–4 cm across both sides when spread out; midlobe with just a few fat white papillae, about 2 mm long. Column slender, 3.8–4.2 cm long, glabrous, winged at the top; anther ca 2 mm long, glabrous. Ovary (including pedicel) 1.5–3 cm long. Berry oblong, 5–10 cm by 0.7–1 cm.

Thailand : SOUTH-WESTERN: Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan; PENINSULAR: Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Phangnga, Ranong, Songkhla, Surat Thani, Trang.

Distribution : Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java (type), Taiwan.

Ecology : Shaded areas in tropical evergreen forests, on rocks by waterfalls and in mixed deciduous forests on limestone; 70–600 m alt. Flowering: recorded in January, February, March, April and September, but especially in March.

Vernacular : O lop (เอาะลบ)(Krabi); ka o lon (กะเอาะล่อน), ngot khao (งดขาว)(Peninsular).