Flora Medica

VANILLACE^E.Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 341.VANILLA.Sepals spreading or erect, distinct. Petals of a similar formand texture. Labellum connate with the columa, crested, membranous,convolute, undivided. Anther terminal, opercular.Pollen granular. Fruit a fleshy pod. Seeds round, destitute ofa loose tunic. Climbing plants, with a slender stem, emittingnumerous simple roots.1228. V. claviculata Swartz.fi.ind. occ. 1515. Epidendrumclaviculatum Sivartz. prodr. 120. (Sloane t. 224-. f. 3, 4.)Woods in the West Indies in mountainous, calcareous, very dryplaces. (Greenwithe.)Stem climbing, 20-30 feet long, somewhat branched, producingtendril-like, simple, short roots opposite the leaves. Leaves sessile,semiamplexicaul, somewhat sheathing, an inch long, lanceolate, acuminate,concave, recurved near the point, membranous at the edge.Peduncles thick, flexuose, many-flowered, axillary. Flowers large,white. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, concave ; petals of the sameform, carinate, from erect spreading, somewhat fleshy, brittle. Labellumwith a hairy, ciliated, ramentaceous furrow, undulated at the edge,convolute and obtuse at the point. Fruit large, roundish triangular,obiong, tapering to the base, smooth. A decoction is esteemed by thenegroes an excellent remedy for syphilis. The expressed juiceis alsoused in cases of recent wounds, whence the French in St. Domingo callit Liane a blessure. Swartz.579 i- r 2