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VANILLA
Aug 22, 2005 13:22:11 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Aug 22, 2005 13:22:11 GMT -5
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VANILLA
Aug 22, 2005 13:28:50 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Aug 22, 2005 13:28:50 GMT -5
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VANILLA
Aug 22, 2005 13:32:45 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Aug 22, 2005 13:32:45 GMT -5
Interesting fact: There is one tiny type of bee that pollinates the Vanilla orchid. This little bee knows exactly when and what to do at a very particular time in order for this orchid to survive. The symbiosis between this orchid and this bee is crucial. More to come....
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VANILLA
Aug 22, 2005 13:57:46 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Aug 22, 2005 13:57:46 GMT -5
As with most orchids, the plant's greenish-yellow flowers grow in racemes, with the blooms opening one at a time. Each will fall off after a day if not pollinated. So the first attempts to grow the orchid outside of Mexico weren't worth beans! Or, more accurately, they didn't produce any of the 6 to 10-inch seed pods which are called "beans." In 1836 a Belgian, Charles Morren, finally realized that only a tiny Mexican bee named Melipone was able to squeeze past the membrane separating the bloom's pistil and stamen to pollinate the plant. www.suite101.com/article.cfm/historical_plants/87849
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VANILLA
Aug 22, 2005 14:01:50 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Aug 22, 2005 14:01:50 GMT -5
The Vanilla Orchid Vanilla belongs to the Orchid family. There are around 60 types of Vanilla Orchids Distributed around the world. Most types of Vanilla do not produce the delightful Vanilla beans. Vanilla planifolia is Native to Mexico and is the species of Vanilla that produces the Vanilla beans used in flavorings and desserts. Vanilla could have been used by the Totonac Indians for flavoring around 1000 A.D. Vanilla spread throughout the world when the Spanish brought back the Vanilla beans to Spain. A host of countries tried to cultivate the orchid but they never produced fruit. In 1836 Charles Morren cracked the mystery. Morren noted that everyday insects like the bumblebee couldn’t pollinate the Vanilla orchid. Morren noticed that the Melipone a little bee native to the Vanilla producing areas of Mexico. Morren noticed with a keen eye that the Melipone is specially equipped to fertilize the Vanilla orchids flowers. Since the Meliphone could only survive in Mexico Charles Morren created a method to pollinate the flowers by hand. Shortly after Vanilla was being grown from Reunion Island to Papua New Guinea. Vanilla likes partially shaded areas, Day temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius and temperatures at night should not drop below 15 degrees Celsius. These numbers are the ideal growing situations. Vanilla likes a moist and humid climate and good air circulation is a must if you want a chance to be successful in growing a Vanilla orchid. For this paraphrased and additional information the Vanilla orchid you can go to www.infoweb.com.au/orchids/vanilla.htm www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/chlee/plsc211/student/articles00/jaird/jaird.htm
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VANILLA
Aug 22, 2005 14:04:09 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Aug 22, 2005 14:04:09 GMT -5
God's perfect symbiosis is shown here.
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