Vanilla Planifolia

Vanilla planifolia, or 'flat-leafed' vanilla, is the scientific name for the plant referred to as the 'vanilla vine', 'vanilla orchid' or simply, and most commonly, as vanilla. The genus name Vanilla comes from the Spanish name for the spice, which is "vanilla". 'Vainilla' itself is “a diminutive of‘ vaina ’, or a sheath, vagina, pod, perhaps motivated by the sheath-like shape of the fruit,” (Katzer, 2003). The specific-epithet (the species-half of the scientific name), 'Planifolia', alludes to the flat shape of the leaves of the plant. The common name for the plant and the well-known 'vanilla' by-product is nearly the same in all languages, except for the native name which is “Náhuatl tlilxochitl” or 'black flower'. Oddly enough, that never caught on. Vanilla Planifolia, which originates from Indonesia, has a light and slightly sweet aroma. vanilla Planifolia has a shape that tends to be cylindrical and is quite large and long, very different from vanilla Tahitensis which has a shape that tends to be thin and short in size.