Editing Vanilla (section)

===Vanilla orchid===
{{Main|Vanilla planifolia}}
[[File:VanillaExtract.png|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Vanilla extract]] displays its distinctive color.]]
[[File:VanillaFlowerLongitudinalSection-en.png|thumb|upright=1.2|''V. planifolia'' – flower]]

The main species of vanilla cultivated is ''V. planifolia''. Although it is native to Mesoamerica and South America, it is now widely grown throughout the tropics. Indonesia and Madagascar are the world's largest producers. Additional sources include ''V. pompona'' and ''V. tahitiensis'' (grown in [[Niue]] and [[Tahiti]]), although the vanillin content of these species is much less than ''V. planifolia''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/chi-vanilla-types-11jun11,0,5117837.story |title=Types of Vanilla |last=Brockman |first=Terra |work=Chicago Tribune |date=11 June 2008 |access-date=1 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616064118/http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/chi-vanilla-types-11jun11,0,5117837.story |archive-date=16 June 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s12231-008-9014-y |title=Origins and Dispersal of Cultivated Vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia'' Jacks. &#91;Orchidaceae&#93;) |year=2008 |last1=Lubinsky |first1=Pesach |last2=Bory |first2=Séverine |last3=Hernández Hernández |first3=Juan |last4=Kim |first4=Seung-Chul |last5=Gómez-Pompa |first5=Arturo |journal=Economic Botany |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=127–38|s2cid=11744202 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.plantsci.2004.04.007 |title=RAPD genetic diversity in cultivated vanilla: ''Vanilla planifolia'', and relationships with ''V. Tahitensis'' and ''V. Pompona'' |year=2004 |last1=Besse |first1=Pascale |last2=Silva |first2=Denis Da |last3=Bory |first3=Séverine |last4=Grisoni |first4=Michel |last5=Le Bellec |first5=Fabrice |last6=Duval |first6=Marie-France |journal=Plant Science |volume=167 |issue=2 |pages=379–85|bibcode=2004PlnSc.167..379B }}</ref>

Vanilla grows as a vine, climbing up an existing tree (also called a tutor), pole, or other support. It can be grown in a wood (on trees), in a plantation (on trees or poles), or in a "shader", in increasing orders of productivity. Its growth environment is referred to as its ''[[terroir]]'', and includes not only the adjacent plants, but also the climate, geography, and local geology. Left alone, it will grow as high as possible on the support, with few flowers. Every year, growers fold the higher parts of the plant downward so the plant stays at heights accessible by a standing human. This also greatly stimulates flowering.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The distinctively flavored compounds are found in the fruit, which results from the [[pollination]] of the flower. These seed pods are roughly {{convert|1/3|in|mm|adj=pre|of an|spell=in}} by {{convert|6|in|mm|spell=in}}, and brownish red to black when ripe. Inside of these pods is an oily liquid full of tiny seeds.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Diderot|first1=Denis|title=Vanilla|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.830|journal=Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert – Collaborative Translation Project|access-date=1 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921231225/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.830|archive-date=21 September 2015|date=September 2007}}</ref> One flower produces one fruit. ''V. planifolia'' flowers are [[hermaphroditic]]: they carry both male ([[anther]]) and female ([[pistil|stigma]]) organs. However, [[self-pollination]] is blocked by a membrane which separates those organs.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Despite various claims otherwise, the only pollinators definitively documented to date are orchid bees in the genus ''[[Eulaema]]''<ref name="Lubinsky-2006">{{cite journal|last1=Lubinsky|first1=Pesach|last2=Van Dam|first2=Matthew|last3=Van Dam|first3=Alex|title=Pollination of Vanilla and Evolution in the Orchidaceae |journal=Lindleyana |date=2006 |volume=75 |issue=12 |pages=926–9 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288609351|access-date=20 November 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121041917/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matthew_Van_Dam/publication/288609351_Pollination_of_Vanilla_and_evolution_in_Orchidaceae/links/56fecd7608ae1408e15d0bc2.pdf|archive-date=21 November 2016}}</ref> and the [[Western honey bee]].<ref name="Pemberton-2023">{{cite journal|last1=Pemberton|first1=Robert|last2=Wheeler|first2=Gregory|last3=Madeira|first3=Paul|title=Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Pollination of Vanilla planifolia in Florida and Their Potential in Commercial Production|journal=Florida Entomologist|date=2023|volume=104|issue=4|pages=230–237|doi=10.1653/024.106.0404 |doi-access=free}}</ref> All commercial vanilla production takes place via hand pollination by humans.

The first vanilla orchid to flower in Europe was in the London collection of the Honourable Charles Greville in 1806. Cuttings from that plant went to Netherlands and Paris, from which the French first transplanted the vines to their overseas colonies. The vines grew, but would not fruit outside Mexico. The only known way to produce fruits is [[pollination management|artificial pollination]]. Today, even in Mexico, hand pollination is used extensively. In 1837, botanist [[Charles François Antoine Morren]] began experimenting with hand pollination of ''Vanilla'' orchids in cultivation in Europe.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Morren |first=C. |year=1837 |title=Note sur la première fructification du Vanillier en Europe (Note on the first fruiting of vanilla in Europe) |journal=Annales de la Société Royale d'Horticulture de Paris |volume=20 |pages=331–334}}  Morren describes the process of artificially pollinating vanilla on p. 333:  "{{lang|fr|En effet, aucun fruit n'a été produit que sur les cinquante-quatre fleurs auxquelles j'avais artificiellement communiqué le pollen. On enlève le tablier ou on le soulève, et on met en contact avec le stigmate une mass pollinique entière, ou seulement une partie de cette masse, car une seule de celles-ci, coupée en huit ou dix pièces, peut féconder autant de fleurs.}}" (In effect, fruit has been produced only on fifty-four flowers to which I artificially communicated pollen. One removes the labellum or one raises it, and one places in contact with the stigma a complete mass of pollen [i.e., pollinium], or just a part of that mass, for just one of these, cut into eight or ten pieces, can fertilize as many flowers.) Available on-line at:  [https://web.archive.org/web/20160825231127/http://www.hortalia.org/viewer/show/216#page/n679/mode/2up Hortalia.org]</ref> The method proved financially unworkable and was not deployed commercially.<ref name="Hazen-1995">{{cite book |title=Vanilla |url=https://archive.org/details/vanilla00haze |url-access=registration |author=Janet Hazen |publisher=Chronicle Books |year=1995 |isbn=9780811802543 }}</ref> A few years later in 1841, a simple and efficient artificial hand-pollination method was developed by a 12-year-old slave named Edmond Albius on Réunion, a method still used today.<ref name=silvercloud>{{cite web |url=http://www.silvercloudestates.com/vanilla_history.aspx |title=History of Vanilla |author=Silver Cloud Estates |publisher=Silver Cloud Estates |access-date=23 July 2008 |quote=In 1837 the Belgian botanist Morren succeeded in artificially pollinating the vanilla flower. On Reunion, Morren's process was attempted, but failed. It was not until 1841 that a 12-year-old slave by the name of Edmond Albius discovered the correct technique of hand-pollinating the flowers. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219152341/http://www.silvercloudestates.com/vanilla_history.aspx |archive-date=19 February 2008 }}</ref> <!--He had been shown how to manually pollinate other vegetable species by hand by his master Férréol Bellier-Beaumont}}<Vanilla:Travels in Search of the Luscious Substance(Ecott)>--> Using a beveled sliver of [[bamboo]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/edu/2004/05/10/stories/2004051000900300.htm |title=Flower with money power |date=10 May 2004 |access-date=1 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090623222730/http://www.hindu.com/edu/2004/05/10/stories/2004051000900300.htm |archive-date=23 June 2009 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] }}</ref> an agricultural worker lifts the membrane separating the anther and the [[Gynoecium|stigma]], then, using the thumb, transfers the [[pollinia]] from the anther to the stigma. The flower, self-pollinated, will then produce a fruit. The vanilla flower lasts about one day, sometimes less, so growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open flowers, a labor-intensive task.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The [[fruit]], a seed [[capsule (fruit)|capsule]], if left on the plant, ripens and opens at the end; as it dries, the [[natural phenol|phenolic]] compounds [[crystallization|crystallize]], giving the fruits a diamond-dusted appearance, which the French call ''givre'' (hoarfrost). It then releases the distinctive vanilla smell. The fruit contains tiny, black seeds. In dishes prepared with whole natural vanilla, these seeds are recognizable as black specks. Both the pod and the seeds are used in cooking.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Like other orchids' seeds, vanilla seeds will not germinate without the presence of certain [[Orchid mycorrhiza|mycorrhizal]] [[fungi]]. Instead, growers reproduce the plant by [[cutting (plant)|cutting]]: they remove sections of the vine with six or more leaf nodes, a root opposite each leaf. The two lower leaves are removed, and this area is buried in loose soil at the base of support. The remaining upper roots cling to the support, and often grow down into the soil. Growth is rapid under good conditions.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}