Wild vanilla vine, Izabal, Guatemala, April 8, 2018, Erick Flores, FLAAR Mesoamérica.
Canon EOS 1Dx Mark II , EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens, f/10, 1/125, ISO 125
While in Izabal several weeks ago, courtesy of the many hospitable people we know there, we found two areas with wild vanilla orchid vines. One was at water level (literally), alongside the Izabal waterways. The second was about 10 km away, in the hills south of Lago Izabal.
In each location there were “wild vanilla orchid vines everywhere around us.”
Experienced orchid botanist Fredy Archilla is letting us know when other vanilla orchid vines elsewhere may bloom. Plus we have several contacts who have told us about wild vanilla vines that their friends know about.
It is essential NOT to collect wild vines from the forests without special permission. It is even more helpful that the trees are not chopped down: vanilla orchid vines require trees to grow, flower, and produce vanilla pods.
More to come, but we definitely want to have Guatemala given more space in ALL future articles and monographs on vanilla orchids of the world. The Maya of Tikal and of El Mirador had orchid vines. We estimate wild vanilla vines can be found at Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo.
We are also working on Muc (Orejuela, a seasoning) and wild bamboo native to Guatemala… yes, bamboo of the Mayan areas: not bamboo from Asia.
Posted May 8, 2018
