J. Poisson

“ A skilled man can fecundate as many as one thousand flowers in a morning. One month after fecundation the fruit has attained its full size, yet it has still to remain on the plant six or seven months more before it reaches perfect maturity.
The flowers of the vanilla have none of that richness of color so common among orchids. They are whitish or yellowish, according to the species to which they belong. Apart from those which are cultivated on account of the perfume of their fruit, the others possess only a purely botanical interest. ”

“ It has ever since been believed that the fecundation of the vanilla in Mexico and the neighboring countries, where that plant fructifies Vanilla planifolia. normally, was brought about by the agency of certain insects which hitherto do not appear ever to have been observed performing this function. The hypothesis is almost equivalent to a certainty, now that we know the habits of the Orchideæ, especially as regards reproduction.
The right of priority in discovering the artificial fecundation of the vanilla has been claimed for many countries. ”

“ The vanilla is a climbing plant with pulpy stem, but it can reach the tops of high trees. In our greenhouses it attains proportions sufficiently great to enable us to judge of its appearance. Its stem, which can be easily made to ramify, is from two to three centimetres in diameter. ”