Vanilla

Biography & Overview

Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily obtained from the seed pods of the flat-leaved New World vanilla (V. planifolia).
Vanilla is not autogamous, so pollination is required to produce the pods. In 1837, the Belgian botanist Charles François Antoine Morren discovered this and pioneered a method of artificially pollinating the plant. The method proved financially unworkable and was not deployed commercially. In 1841, Edmond Albius, a 12-year-old enslaved child who lived on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, discovered that the plant could be hand-pollinated. Hand-pollination allowed global cultivation of the plant. The noted French botanist and plant collector Jean Michel Claude Richard falsely claimed to have discovered the technique three or four years earlier. By the end of the 20th century, Albius was considered the true discoverer.
Three major species of vanilla currently are grown globally, all derived from a species originally f...