Vanilla planifoliaAndrews

vanilla

WFO wfo-0000331533 Accepted WFO 2026-06 6 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–f · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Vanilla planifolia, photographed by Adrianh M. Orozco
fig. a Adrianh M. Orozco, CC BY 4.0 / 2018-08-14 / obs. 23551283
Vanilla planifolia, photographed by 葉子
fig. b 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 110499520
Vanilla planifolia, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. c Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 177738628
Vanilla planifolia, photographed by 葉子
fig. d 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 110499515
Vanilla planifolia, photographed by 葉子
fig. e 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 110499517
Vanilla planifolia, photographed by Micha Baum
fig. f Micha Baum, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 44409777

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 13 botanical countries

Regions where Vanilla planifolia is native: Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Belize, Brazil North, Brazil Southeast, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá Mexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeBrazil NorthBrazil SoutheastColombiaCosta RicaEl SalvadorGuatemalaHondurasNicaraguaPanamá
Native distribution of Vanilla planifolia, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Southeast BZL
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Honduras HON
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Mexico Gulf MXG NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 22 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Epidendrum rubrum Lam.
  • Myrobroma fragrans Salisb.
  • Notylia planifolia (Andrews) Conz.
  • Notylia sativa (Schiede) Conz.
  • Notylia sylvestris (Schiede) Conz.
  • Vanilla aromatica Willd.
  • Vanilla aromatica var. bicolor F.Buyss.
  • Vanilla aromatica var. claviculata F.Buyss.
  • Vanilla aromatica var. discolor F.Buyss.
  • Vanilla aromatica var. lutescens F.Buyss.
  • Vanilla aromatica var. planifolia (Andrews) F.Buyss.
  • Vanilla bampsiana Geerinck
  • Vanilla duckei Huber
  • Vanilla fragrans Ames
  • Vanilla planifolia var. angusta Costantin & Poiss. ex C.Henry
  • Vanilla planifolia var. angusta Costantin & Boiss. ex C.Henry
  • Vanilla rubra (Lam.) Urb.
  • Vanilla sativa Schiede
  • Vanilla schwackeana Hoehne
  • Vanilla sotoarenasii M.Pignal, Azof.-Bolaños & Grisoni
  • Vanilla sylvestris Schiede
  • Vanilla viridiflora Blume

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.