Vanilla pomponaSchiede

West Indian vanilla

WFO wfo-0000331540 Accepted WFO 2026-06 5 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–e · 5 separate observations

Vanilla pompona, photographed by Tristan Jobin
fig. a Tristan Jobin, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-03-21 / obs. 107383983
Vanilla pompona, photographed by Don Loarie
fig. b Don Loarie, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 32553996
Vanilla pompona, photographed by Aitor
fig. c Aitor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 22000623
Vanilla pompona, photographed by Scott Loarie
fig. d Scott Loarie, CC0 1.0 / obs. 32082831
Vanilla pompona, photographed by Ana Nuño
fig. e Ana Nuño, CC0 1.0 / obs. 173387649

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 23 botanical countries

Regions where Vanilla pompona is native: Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. Mexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaEcuadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáPeruSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela Windward Is.
Native distribution of Vanilla pompona, 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. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Bolivia BOL SOUTHERN AMERICA
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Ecuador ECU
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
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 11 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.

  • Notylia pompona (Schiede) Conz.
  • Vanilla cochlearilabia Archila, Chiron & Menchaca
  • Vanilla grandiflora Lindl.
  • Vanilla hamata Klotzsch
  • Vanilla lutescens Moq. ex Dupuis
  • Vanilla pittieri Schltr.
  • Vanilla planifolia var. gigantea Hoehne
  • Vanilla pleei Portères
  • Vanilla pompona subsp. grandiflora (Lindl.) Soto Arenas
  • Vanilla pompona subsp. pittieri (Schltr.) Dressler
  • Vanilla pompona subsp. pompona

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.