Vanilla mexicana Mill.

16.Vanilla mexicanaMill. (Miller 1768: without number) Epidendrum vanilla L. (Linnaeus 1753: 952) Vanilla aromatica Sw. (Swartz 1799: 66), nom. superfl. illeg. Vanilla anaromatica Griseb. (Grisebach 1864: 638), nom. superfl. illeg. Vanilla epidendrum Mirb. (Mirbel 1802: 249), nom. superfl. illeg. Type. Lectotype (designated by Reveal (2009: 359) as lectotype of V. mexicana and by Cribb in Cafferty and Jarvis (1999: 47) as lectotype of E. vanilla): HAITI • “ Volubilis siliquosa mexicana plantagini folio ” in Catesby, Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands vol. 2 (Catesby 1747: appendix 7, pl. 7, reproduced in Karremans et al. 2020: fig. 25 A). Notes. Upon proposing Vanilla mexicana, Miller cited a single illustration by Catesby (1747: fig. 4). This was later proven to be based on unpublished illustrations by Plumier (see Karremans et al. 2020: fig. 25). Miller attributed his species to an aromatic entity, noting that “ … with this fruit the Spaniards perfume their chocolate, ” effectively combining the non-aromatic species illustrated by Plumier (Karremans et al. 2020: fig. 25 C – D) with the species of the Mexicas, valued for their fragrant fruits. Miller’s slip resulted in the typification of Vanilla mexicana (Reveal 2009) with the illustration of a species that is neither aromatic nor native to Mexico. Under Epidendrum vanilla, Linnaeus listed the following elements: Epidendrum foliis ovato-oblongis nervosis, sessilibus caulinis, cirrhis spiralibus (van Royen 1740: 13, Linnaeus 1749: 13); Vanilla piperis arbori jamaicensis innascens (Plukenet 1696: 381); Vanille (Merian 1705: 25); Volubilis siliquosa, plantaginis folio (Catesby 1747: 7); Lobus aromaticus subfuscus terebinthi corniculis simili (Bauhin 1671: 404). Additional materials are indirectly listed by citation of a reference that contains it. For example, both Royen’s Florae Leydensis and Linnaeus’s Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis refer to Vanilla flore viridi & albo, fructu nigrescente of Plumier, which is not directly cited here. From this is becomes clear that Linnaeus believed these elements belonged to a single taxon, the Vanilla of commerce. Today we know that the materials in this list represent different, often unrelated, Vanilla species, belonging to both aromatic and non-aromatic taxa (Karremans and Pupulin 2023).