Taxon: Vanilla planifolia Andrews

Summary

Genus:

Vanilla

Family:

Orchidaceae

Subfamily:

Vanilloideae

Tribe:

Vanilleae

Nomen number:

41111

Place of publication:

Bot. Repos. 8: t. 538. 1808

Comment:

authorship of names in this work follows Shenzhen ICN Art. 46.8; there is no internal evidence in the work for any author other than Andrews (fide K. Gandhi, pers. comm. on 7 Aug 2006)

Verified:

03/07/1995 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

151 (3 active, 2 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Myrobroma fragrans Salisb.
Vanilla sotoarenasii M. Pignal et al.

Invalid Designation(s)
Vanilla fragrans auct.

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Ackerman, J. D. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 73.
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Bernal, R., S. R. Gradstein & M. Celis. 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. Note: as cultivated
Bory, S. et al. 2008. Biodiversity and preservation of vanilla: present state of knowledge. Genet. Resources Crop Evol. 55:551-571.
Bory, S. et al. 2010. Chapter 2. Evolutionary processes and diversification in the genus Vanilla. In: Odoux, E. & M. Grisoni, Vanilla. IN: Medicinal and aromatic plants. Industrial Profiles 15-29.
Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. 1993. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45
Chambers, A. et al. 2021. Genotyping-by-sequencing diversity analysis of international Vanilla collections uncovers hidden diversity and enables plant improvement. Pl. Sci. (Elsevier) 311:111019. DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2021.111019.
CITES. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices I, II and III (on-line resource).
Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Ellestad, P. et al. 2021. Harnessing large-scale biodiversity data to infer the current distribution of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae). Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 196:407-422. DOI: 10.1093/botlinnean/boab005.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Harling, G. & B. Sparre, eds. 1973-. Flora of Ecuador.
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Lasser, T., ed. 1964-. Flora de Venezuela.
Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Lubinsky, P. et al. 2008. Origins and dispersal of cultivated vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Jacks. [Orchidaceae]). Econ. Bot. 62:127-138.
Mansfeld, R. 1959. Die Kulturpflanze, Beiheft 2.
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Personal Care Products Council. International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Portères, R. 1954. La genre Vanilla et ses espèces. Encycl. Biol. 46:234. Note: = Vanilla fragrans (Salisb.) Oakes
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.
Westphal, E. & P. C. M. Jansen, eds. 1989. A selection. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) A:270.

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	Bourbon vanilla	1	Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
English	vanilla	1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
French	vanillier	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
German	Vanille	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Italian	vaniglia	2	Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
Japanese Rōmaji	banira	2	Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
Portuguese	baunilha	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	vainilla	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedish	vanilj	2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Chiapas		Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Oaxaca		Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Quintana Roo		Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Tabasco		Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Espírito Santo		Ellestad, P. et al. 2021. Harnessing large-scale biodiversity data to infer the current distribution of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae). Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 196:407-422. DOI: 10.1093/botlinnean/boab005.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominica			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Grenada			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Guadeloupe			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Martinique			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Costa Rica			Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Guatemala			Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Honduras			Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	French Guiana			Ellestad, P. et al. 2021. Harnessing large-scale biodiversity data to infer the current distribution of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae). Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 196:407-422. DOI: 10.1093/botlinnean/boab005.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Suriname
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela			Ellestad, P. et al. 2021. Harnessing large-scale biodiversity data to infer the current distribution of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae). Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 196:407-422. DOI: 10.1093/botlinnean/boab005.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia			Flanagan, N. S. et al. 2018. Chapter 6. Conservation and sustainable use of vanilla crop wild relatives in Colombia. In: Havkin-Frenkel, D. & F. C. Belanger, Handbook of vanilla science and technology, second edition 85-109. Note: identifies and discusses wild relatives from the secondary gene pool, and comments on species present in Colombia
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Ecuador			Ellestad, P. et al. 2021. Harnessing large-scale biodiversity data to infer the current distribution of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae). Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 196:407-422. DOI: 10.1093/botlinnean/boab005.
2	Cultivated	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo			Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Papuasia	Papua New Guinea			Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
2	Cultivated	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.
2	Cultivated	Pacific	North-Central Pacific	United States	Hawaii		Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
2	Cultivated	Pacific	South-Central Pacific	French Polynesia			Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
2	Cultivated	Pacific	Southwestern Pacific	Fiji			Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Central America	Panama		only known from Barro Colorado Island and San Blas "probably an indication that it is escaped there"	Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.
5	Uncertain	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Virgin Islands, U.S.	probably naturalized	Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
5	Uncertain	Southern America	Western South America	Peru		also unconfirmed for Peru's flora by LPeru	Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.

Native
Northern America

SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Chiapas, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Martinique, United States [Puerto Rico]
CENTRAL AMERICA: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras
NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela
BRAZIL: Brazil [Espírito Santo]
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Colombia, Ecuador

Cultivated
Africa

WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Asia-Tropical

PAPUASIA: Papua New Guinea

Northern America

SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave]

Pacific

NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]
SOUTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: French Polynesia
SOUTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Fiji

Naturalized
Southern America

CENTRAL AMERICA: Panama (only known from Barro Colorado Island and San Blas "probably an indication that it is escaped there")

Uncertain
Southern America

CARIBBEAN: United States [Virgin Islands, U.S. (probably naturalized)]
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Peru (also unconfirmed for Peru's flora by LPeru)

Reference(s)

Ellestad, P. et al. 2021. Harnessing large-scale biodiversity data to infer the current distribution of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae). Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 196:407-422. DOI: 10.1093/botlinnean/boab005.
Flanagan, N. S. et al. 2018. Chapter 6. Conservation and sustainable use of vanilla crop wild relatives in Colombia. In: Havkin-Frenkel, D. & F. C. Belanger, Handbook of vanilla science and technology, second edition 85-109. Note: identifies and discusses wild relatives from the secondary gene pool, and comments on species present in Colombia
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
Karremans, A. P. et al. 2020. A reappraisal of neotropical Vanilla with a note on taxonomic inflation and the importance of alpha taxonomy in biological studies. Lankesteriana 20:395-497. DOI: 10.15517/lank.v20i3.45203.
Soto Arenas, M. A. & R. L. Dressler. 2010. A revision of the Mexican and Central American species of Vanilla Plumier ex Miller with a characterization of their ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Lankesteriana 9:285-354.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Reference
Food additives	flavoring	Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Food additives	flavoring	Chambers, A. et al. 2021. Genotyping-by-sequencing diversity analysis of international Vanilla collections uncovers hidden diversity and enables plant improvement. Pl. Sci. (Elsevier) 311:111019. DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2021.111019.
Materials	essential oils	Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Medicines	folklore	Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	folklore	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=41111. Accessed 17 April 2026.