VANILLACE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 341. 



VANILLA. 



Sepals spreading or erect, distinct. Petals of a similar form 

 and texture. Labellum connate with the columa, crested, mem- 

 branous, convolute, undivided. Anther terminal, opercular. 

 Pollen granular. Fruit a fleshy pod. Seeds round, destitute of 

 a loose tunic. Climbing plants, with a slender stem, emitting 

 numerous simple roots. 



1228. V. claviculata Swartz.fi. ind. occ. 1515. Epidendrum 

 claviculatum Sivartz. prodr. 120. (Sloane t. 224-. f. 3, 4.) 

 Woods in the West Indies in mountainous, calcareous, very dry 

 places. (Greenwithe.) 



Stem climbing, 20-30 feet long, somewhat branched, producing 

 tendril-like, simple, short roots opposite the leaves. Leaves sessile, 

 semiamplexicaul, somewhat sheathing, an inch long, lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate, concave, recurved near the point, membranous at the edge. 

 Peduncles thick, flexuose, many-flowered, axillary. Flowers large, 

 white. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, concave ; petals of the same 

 form, carinate, from erect spreading, somewhat fleshy, brittle. Labellum 

 with a hairy, ciliated, ramentaceous furrow, undulated at the edge, 

 convolute and obtuse at the point. Fruit large, roundish triangular, 

 obiong, tapering to the base, smooth. A decoction is esteemed by the 

 negroes an excellent remedy for syphilis. The expressed juice is also 

 used in cases of recent wounds, whence the French in St. Domingo call 

 it Liane a blessure. Swartz. 



579 i- r 2 



