Vanilla andamanica

{{Short description|Species of orchid}}

{{speciesbox

| image = Vanilla andamanica-1-JNTBGRI-kerala-India.jpg

| image_caption =

| genus = Vanilla

| species = andamanica

| authority = Rolfe

| synonyms =

}}

Vanilla andamanica is an endangered wild relative of commercial vanilla, Vanilla planifolia, the source of vanilla essence. It grows in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India in the Bay of Bengal.,Geoinformatics for tropical ecosystems, by P. S. Roy, Asian Association of Remote Sensing. Publisher:Working Group on Tropical Ecosystem Management, Asian Association of Remote Sensing, 2003. {{ISBN|81-211-0370-3}}. Page 569. and classified as a Vulnerable species (VU) by the IUCN Red List.[https://books.google.com/books?id=9Bz-j2GyJroC&dq=%22Vanilla+andamanica%22&pg=PA92 Vanilla andamanica] Orchids: status survey and conservation action plan, by Eric Hágsater, Vinciane Dumont, Alec M. Pridgeon, IUCN/SSC Orchid Specialist Group. Publisher IUCN, 1996. {{ISBN|2-8317-0325-5}}. Page 92.

It has creamy white fragrant flowers, and was first identified by botanist, Robert Allen Rolfe in 1918. Today, it is part of Floriculture emphasis in the island state.,[http://www.and.nic.in/Know%20Andaman/floral_wealth.htm Floral Wealth of Andaman & Nicobar Islands:Vanilla andamanica Rolfe (Orchid)] Andaman & Nicobar Islands website. also conserved in the 'Dhanikhari Experimental Botanic Garden', Port Blair, by the Botanical Survey of India.[http://www.envfor.nic.in/bsi/gardens.html The list of Species Conserved in Botanical Gardens of Botanical Survey of India] Ministry of Environment and Forests

Living collections of this taxon is also under ex situ conservation outside the islands at the Field Gene Bank of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Trivandrum, India. This is a 'narrow endemic' rarely found in the interior evergreen forests of this archipelago. The flowers are typical creamy yellowish with purple coloured interior. There are differences in opinion among taxonomists about the specific status of the Andaman taxon. According to late Seidenfaden Vanilla andamanica Rolfe is very similar to the Thailand species Vanilla albida Blume.Mathew, S. P., A. Mohandas, S. M. Shreef & G. M. Nair 2005: Vanilla andamanica, Orchid Review 113:152-153.