Vanilla mexicana Mill.

16. Vanilla mexicana Mill. View in CoL ( Miller 1768: without number)

Epidendrum vanilla L. ( Linnaeus 1753: 952) View in CoL

Vanilla aromatica Sw. ( Swartz 1799: 66), nom. superfl. illeg. View in CoL

Vanilla anaromatica Griseb. ( Grisebach 1864: 638), nom. superfl. illeg. View in CoL

Vanilla epidendrum Mirb. ( Mirbel 1802: 249), nom. superfl. illeg. View in CoL

Type.

Lectotype (designated by Reveal (2009: 359) as lectotype of V. mexicana and by Cribb in Cafferty and Jarvis (1999: 47) as lectotype of E. vanilla ): HAITI • “ Volubilis siliquosa mexicana plantagini folio ” in Catesby, Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands vol. 2 ( Catesby 1747: appendix 7, pl. 7, reproduced in Karremans et al. 2020: fig. 25 A).

Notes.

Upon proposing Vanilla mexicana, Miller cited a single illustration by Catesby (1747: fig. 4). This was later proven to be based on unpublished illustrations by Plumier (see Karremans et al. 2020: fig. 25). Miller attributed his species to an aromatic entity, noting that “ … with this fruit the Spaniards perfume their chocolate, ” effectively combining the non-aromatic species illustrated by Plumier ( Karremans et al. 2020: fig. 25 C – D) with the species of the Mexicas, valued for their fragrant fruits. Miller’s slip resulted in the typification of Vanilla mexicana ( Reveal 2009) with the illustration of a species that is neither aromatic nor native to Mexico.

Under Epidendrum vanilla, Linnaeus listed the following elements: Epidendrum foliis ovato-oblongis nervosis, sessilibus caulinis, cirrhis spiralibus ( van Royen 1740: 13, Linnaeus 1749: 13); Vanilla piperis arbori jamaicensis innascens ( Plukenet 1696: 381); Vanille ( Merian 1705: 25); Volubilis siliquosa, plantaginis folio ( Catesby 1747: 7); Lobus aromaticus subfuscus terebinthi corniculis simili ( Bauhin 1671: 404). Additional materials are indirectly listed by citation of a reference that contains it. For example, both Royen’s Florae Leydensis and Linnaeus’s Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis refer to Vanilla flore viridi & albo, fructu nigrescente of Plumier, which is not directly cited here. From this is becomes clear that Linnaeus believed these elements belonged to a single taxon, the Vanilla of commerce. Today we know that the materials in this list represent different, often unrelated, Vanilla species, belonging to both aromatic and non-aromatic taxa ( Karremans and Pupulin 2023).