Volume 12 > Part 1 > Year 2011 > Page 273 > Orchidaceae > Vanilla

3. Vanilla griffithii Rchb.f.

Bonplandia 2: 88. 1854; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 4: 201. 1924; Holttum, Revis. FI. Malaya 1: 94, fig. 16c. 1953; Seidenf. & Smitinand, Orchids Thail.: 58. 1959; Seidenf., Dansk Bot. Ark. 32(2): 142. fig. 89. 1978; Seidenf. & J.J.Wood, Orchids Penins. Malays. Singap.: 125, fig. 51a, 1992; J.B.Comber, Orchids Sumatra: 132, 2001. Fig. 159; Plate XXIII: 1.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Stems climbing to several meters long, cylindric, green, 3–8 mm in diameter, longitudinally grooved; aerial roots thin, tendril-like, each of them perpendicular to a petiole. Foliage leaves oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 10–20 by 3.5–8 cm, apex apiculate to cuspidate, coriaceous, glabrous, petiole 3–10 mm long. Inflorescence 3- to 12-flowered; rachis 3–6 cm long, glabrous; bracts ovate, 2–10 by 4–5 mm, persistent, coriaceous, glabrous. Flowers showy, long-pedicelled, opening widely at first, afterwards closed. Sepals glabrous, greenish-yellow, more green at apex, obovate-oblanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded, slightly hooded; dorsal sepal 2.5–3 by 1.3–1.5 cm, 15- to 17-veined; lateral sepals 2.5–3 by 1.3–1.5 cm, 17- to 19-veined. Petals glabrous, light greenish-yellow, more yellow at apex, obovate-oblanceolate, 2.3–2.5 by 1.4–1.5 cm, 11- to 13-veined, with strong midvein outside, apex obtuse to rounded, not hooded. Labellum light greenish-yellow, with reddish brown markings towards base inside, ovate-oblong in outline, obscurely 3-lobed, 1.8–2.5 cm long along the mid-line, with a large globose woolly ball on disc above anther, 3–4 mm wide, consisting of twisted very fine hairs; side lobes rounded, adnate to the column for less than half of the column length, 1.8–2.3 cm across both sides when spread out; midlobe bipartite by a split, margin membranous and plicate, at centre with V-shaped hairiness of fine hairs. Column slender, 1–1.4 cm long, glabrous; anther ca 2 mm long, glabrous. Ovary (including pedicel) 1.5–3.5 cm long. Berry oblong, 4–8 by 1–1.2 cm.

Thailand : PENINSULAR: Narathiwat.

Distribution : Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, type locality unknown.

Ecology : In tropical evergreen forests, edge of swamp forests. Flowering: April–July.