Vanilla phaeantha explained

Vanilla phaeantha, common name leafy vanilla or oblong-leaved vanilla, is a plant species known to occur in the wild, only on the islands of Trinidad and Cuba, and also in Collier County, Florida. It occurs in cypress swamps and hammocks at elevations of less than 20 m (67 feet).^[1]

Vanilla phaeantha has persistent, leathery, flat leaves up to 15 cm long, hence about the same length as the internodes or slightly shorter. Flowers are borne in racemes of about 12 flowers, located in the axils of the leaves. Sepals and petals are green, leathery and rigid except for the yellow to cream-colored lip. Fruits are cylindrical, up to 10 cm (4 inches) long and 1 cm (0.4 inches) in diameter.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Notes and References

1. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242102046 Flora of North America v 26 p 509
2. Reichenbach, Heinrich Gustav. Flora oder Allgemeine Botanische Zeitung 48(18): 274. 1865.
3. Long, R. W. & O. K. Lakela. 1971. A Flora of Tropical Florida: A Manual of the Seed Plants and Ferns of Southern Peninsular Florida i–xvii, 1–962. University of Miami Press, Coral Cables.
4. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/402086#page/1/mode/1up Small, J. K. 1933. Manual of the Southeastern Flora i–xxii, 1–1554. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
5. Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida i–x, 1–806. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.