| Vanilla walkeriae | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Vanilloideae |
| Genus: | Vanilla |
| Species: | V. walkeriae |
| Binomial name | |
| Vanilla walkeriae | |
Vanilla walkeriae is a species of vanilla orchid native to India and Sri Lanka. It grows in forest and jungle habitat. It is considered to be a rare species. [1]
This species is an epiphyte with thick, succulent, rooting stems up to 15 meters long that climbs on trees and shrubs. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 3.7 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a large raceme of many flowers. The flower can be up to 6.8 centimeters wide and has wavy-edged white petals. The fruit is a thin capsule up to 15 centimeters long. [1]
The scientific name commemorates Anna Maria Walker of Sri Lanka with whom Robert Wight collaborated.
The plant is used in the traditional veterinary medicine practices of the Irulas in India. Stem paste is fed to cattle to treat fever and as a nutritional supplement. [2]
The species is threatened by commercial overexploitation and habitat destruction. [2]
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae, a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth except glaciers. The world's richest diversity of orchid genera and species is found in the tropics.
Vanilla, the vanilla orchids, forms a flowering plant genus of about 110 species in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). The most widely known member is the flat-leaved vanilla, native to Mexico and Belize, from which commercial vanilla flavoring is derived. It is the only orchid widely used for industrial purposes in flavoring such products as foods, beverages and cosmetics, and is recognized as the most popular aroma and flavor. The key constituent imparting its flavour is the phenolic aldehyde, vanillin.
Arundina graminifolia is a species of orchid and the sole accepted species of the genus Arundina. This tropical Asiatic genus extends from Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, the Ryukyu Islands, Malaysia, Singapore, China to Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea. It has become naturalized in Réunion, Fiji, French Polynesia, Micronesia, the West Indies, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, and Hawaii. It is also called bamboo orchid.
Isotria medeoloides, commonly known as small whorled pogonia or little five leaves, is a terrestrial orchid found in temperate Eastern North America.
Alstonia macrophylla, the hard alstonia, hard milkwood or big-leaved macrophyllum, is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae.
Epipactis gigantea is a species of orchid known as the stream orchid, giant helleborine, and chatterbox. This wildflower is native to western North America from British Columbia to central Mexico. This is one of the most abundant orchids of the Pacific coast of North America.
Rhynchostylis retusa is an orchid, belonging to the Vanda alliance. The inflorescence is a pendant raceme, consisting of more than 100 pink-spotted white flowers. The plant has a short, stout, creeping stem carrying up to 12, curved, fleshy, deeply channeled, keeled, retuse apically leaves and blooms on an axillary pendant to 60 cm (24 in) long, racemose, densely flowered, cylindrical inflorescence that occurs in the winter and early spring. It is famous for its use as a hair-ornament worn by Assamese women during folk dance Bihu on the onset of spring.
Habenaria plantaginea is a species of orchid native to Asia.
Platanthera ephemerantha is a species of orchid known by the common names whiteflower rein orchid, slender white piperia, and white-flowered piperia. It is native to western North America from Alaska to the San Francisco Bay Area, where it grows in coniferous forests and other habitat in coastal and inland mountain ranges within 150 kilometers of the coast. It grows erect to about half a meter in maximum height from a bulbous caudex. The basal leaves are up to 18 centimeters long by 3 wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced. The upper part of the stem is a spikelike inflorescence of up to 100 small flowers, mostly arranged along one side of the stem. The fragrant, honey-scented flowers are whiter than those of other Platanthera, but sometimes green-tinged or -veined, or green with white margins. The status of this species in the wild is difficult to determine because most populations are small and may produce flowers only rarely.
Platanthera elongata is a species of orchid known by the common names denseflower rein orchid, chaparral orchid and wood rein-orchid. It is native to western North America from British Columbia and Montana to southern California, where it grows in mountain forests and scrub habitat. This orchid grows erect to about 1.3 meters in maximum height from a bulbous caudex, its stem becoming narrow toward the tip. The basal leaves are up to 30 centimeters long by 6.5 wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced. The upper part of the stem is a spikelike inflorescence of many small green flowers which are sometimes densely arranged. They are sometimes faintly and variably fragrant in the evenings. The spur on each flower may be up to 1.5 centimeters long.
Platanthera leptopetala is a species of orchid known by the common names narrow-petal rein orchid, and lacy rein orchid. It is native to the west coast of the United States from Washington to California, where it grows in scrub and woodland habitat in mountains and foothills. This orchid grows erect to about 70 centimeters in maximum height from a bulbous caudex. The basal leaves are up to 15 centimeters long by 3 wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced. The upper part of the stem is a spikelike inflorescence of many delicate, translucent green flowers which are sometimes fragrant in the evenings. This rein orchid has narrower petals than those of other species, giving the inflorescence a lacy look, as the common names suggest.
Platanthera michaelii is an uncommon species of orchid known by the common names Michael's rein orchid and Michael's piperia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the coastal plains, hills, and mountains, and the Sierra Nevada foothills. It can be found in varied habitat, including scrub, woodland, and forest. This orchid grows erect to about 70 centimeters in maximum height from a bulbous caudex. The basal leaves are up to 24 centimeters long by 5 wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced. The upper part of the stem is a spikelike inflorescence of many yellow-green flowers which are fragrant in the evenings.
Platanthera unalascensis is a species of orchid known by the common names slender-spire orchid, Alaska piperia and Alaska rein orchid. It is native to much of western North America from Alaska to the southwestern United States, as well as eastern sections of Canada and the Great Lakes. It can be found in forest, woodland, and scrub habitat, often in dry areas. This orchid grows erect to about 70 centimeters in maximum height. The basal leaves are up to 15 centimeters long by 4 wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced. The upper part of the stem is a slender, spikelike inflorescence of widely spaced translucent green flowers. The flowers are fragrant in the evenings, with a musky, soapy, or honeylike scent. The plant is variable in size, stem thickness, density of inflorescence, petal shape, and scent. Plants of the coast ranges and the Pacific Northwest are stouter and have broader sepals and petals than do interior and montane forms.
Platanthera sparsiflora is a species of orchid known by the common name sparse-flowered bog orchid. It is native to the forests and meadows of the western United States, and also south to Baja California.
Vanilla polylepis is a climbing orchid species in the plant family Orchidaceae. It is native to tropical Africa, with a range spanning the width of the continent, from Kenya to Angola. It grows in high-altitude evergreen and swamp forests between 1,200–1,500 m (3,900–4,900 ft) and is often found growing on trees bordering rivers and waterfalls. Plants produce bright green, fleshy stems, 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) in diameter, with large, glossy leaves. White, aerial roots form on the stems allowing the orchids to attach themselves to trees for support. As with many orchids, they produce showy flowers, which in the case of V. polylepis are white and yellow with a pink to maroon blotch. This differentiates them from similar species. They have seedpod-like fruits, called capsules, which produce a distinctive aroma as they dry. They are closely related to the well-known species Vanilla planifolia, whose seed pods are used commercially in the production of vanilla flavouring.
Spiranthes delitescens is a rare species of orchid known by the common names reclusive lady's tresses, Canelo Hills lady's tresses, and Madrean lady's tresses. It is native to Arizona in the United States, where there are only four occurrences. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Geodorum densiflorum, commonly known as pink nodding orchid or 地宝兰 , is a plant in the orchid family and is native to areas from tropical Asia to eastern Australia and some Pacific Islands. It is a terrestrial orchid with broad, pleated, dark green to yellowish leaves and up to and twenty pale pink flowers with dark red veins on the labellum. It grows in wetter habitats including rainforest, woodlands, grasslands and swamps.
Vanilla imperialis is an orchid found from Sierra Leone eastward to Ethiopia and southward to Tanzania and Angola. It is a root-climbing vine to about 65 feet in height, with a root emerging just above each leaf. Although not as tall as the common vanilla, it is up to a full inch in thickness; the most massive Vanilla species, and the largest of all African orchids. The inflorescence is an unbranched raceme up to six inches long. The flowers are six inches wide with the white or yellow petals and sepals three inches (8 cm) long by 0.75 inch (1.8 cm) in width. The labellum is 2.5 inches in length with the far end flared and pink or purple. Most of the labellum is fused to the column, forming a tube. Each flower is open for at least two days( Chambers says seven days).
Vanilla odorata, also known as vanilla tlatepusco, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orchidaceae, native to southern Mexico, Central America, and tropical South America. With Vanilla planifolia it is a parent of the vanilla crop species Vanilla × tahitensis.
Luisia tenuifolia, the slender-leaved luisia, is a species of epiphytic orchid, belonging to the Vanda alliance. It is native to Sri Lanka and southwestern India.
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