Prof. Chas. Morren on the Cultivation of Vanilla. 3 



self to these differential characters, so far from certain as to 

 leave much doubt in the observer's mind, for he avows not 

 having seen the flowers of any one species of Vanilla, and it 

 is in the flower alone, and especially in the labellum, that 

 the true characters are to be sought. There are in the hot- 

 houses of Mr. Loddiges of London twb kinds of Vanilla plant 

 referred to the Vanilla plant folia of Andrews, to which these 

 characters equally apply, and which are nevertheless very dif- 

 ferent, insomuch that the one has the leaves oblique and the 

 other regular. It is moreover very doubtful, whether in the 

 genus Vanilla all the fruits have not two grooves, which are 

 the traces of the lines of dehiscence or of the sutures. These 

 sutures also exist to the number of two upon the fruits 

 which I saw upon the Vanilla bicolor at Mr. Loddiges, and 

 which have recently been described by Professor Lindley. 



From the form of the fruit of the Vanillas cultivated at 

 Liege, it seems to me that the Vanilla planifolia of Andrews 

 (Repository, vol.viii. pi. 538.), figured in his plate 538, is really 

 the Vanilla sylvestris of Schiede ; but I am not very sure of it, 

 because the characters assigned to the Vanilla pompona of this 

 latter author, and especially that of the size of the fruit, agree 

 equally with the Vanilla of Liege ; so that here again the want 

 of all criterion drawn from the flower destroys any kind of 

 certainty which might be had upon this subject. What is very 

 certain is, that the Vanilla planifolia of the herbarium of Pro- 

 fessor Lindley, although marked with a note of interrogation (?) 

 is the very same plant drawn in flower by Mr. Francis Bauer in 

 Lindley^s ' Genera and Species of Orchideous Plants 5 ; se- 

 condly, that this species is certainly the one which was figured 

 by Andrews ; and thirdly, that it is this same plant which, 

 generally cultivated, on the continent, has produced at Liege 

 an abundant crop of odorous and delicious fruit. 



Hence, it follows : 



1st. That the characters of the species of Vanilla named by 

 M. Schiede V. saliva, V. sylvestris, V. pompona, should be 

 submitted to a fresh examination, and that no sure distinction 

 can be established except upon the flower, which has not yet 

 been observed. 



2nd. Thatwhereas Andrews states that his Vanilla planifolia 



b2 



