When time and funding permit, each flower (each plant species) will have its own page, and its own PDF, and eventually its own PPT so that professors and students have plenty of material on Guatemala (and Honduras, etc) to study.
Heliconia adflexa, Coban, Guatemala, Hotel Monja Blanca, FLAAR, by Nicholas Hellmuth
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What is vanilla?Vanilla is the specially harvested and long-term cured seed pod of an orchid vine native to Guatemala, Belize, and most of Mesoamerica, but is best known from Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico. Fortunately for our chocolate flavoring research project vanilla orchids are also occasionally raised in Guatemala. You can find vanilla in Alta Verapaz and Peten, and sometimes in the Costa Sur. I would not be surprised if vanilla orchids might be found in the Izabal area of Guatemala also. What is vanilla extract?As a child I must admit that I enjoyed vanilla extract. However I have not sampled any for the last 50 years. I myself use very few spices (in a humid climate most spices gum up or get mold or insects set up housekeeping inside the containers). Considering the cost of real vanilla pods, I bet that most vanilla extract today is from a chemical factory, and not from an orchid vine. Vanilla seed pods make vanilla a definitely aromatic plant, suitable for aromatherapyWhen working with vanilla orchid plants out in vanilla plantations I do not notice much aroma. Plumeria rubra is rated as being very aromatic, but in my scale it emitsonly a bit of aroma. Perhaps these plants do not impress my nose as much since I am used to huelle de noche and Brugmansia, since these are common decorative plants in the gardens of most hotels, fincas, and people’s houses throughout Mesoamerica. In comparison, a blooming vanilla orchid is not very noticeable. But after the pod has been harvested and cured for months, then you can consider it is an aromatic plant. Now you can start considering this for aromatherapy. However at present, the goals of our Mayan ethnobotany research is to identify all utilitarian plants, to build up a good bibliography, to locate and publish where and when the plant flowers, and then to capture the absolute most informative and gorgeous photographs possible, to document to the world the natural beauty of Guatemala. We do not test or administer these plants, though I have found that soup of chipilin leaves (Crotalaria longirostrata) definitely puts me to sleep at night. This plant is common in most kitchen gardens throughout Guatemala. Here is the Vanilla orchid
The history of vanilla among the Totonac, Aztec, and MayaEverything about the history of vanilla among the Totonac, and from them the Aztec, is already in every major book on vanilla. But not many books on the agriculture of the Mayan people discuss raising vanilla in the Maya areas, especially Tabasco, Chiapas (Mexico), Guatemala, Belize, and appropriate eco-systems of El Salvador and Honduras (the areas of Maya influence in Mesoamerica). Tabulation of indigenous terms for vanilla In Mesoamerican languagesWe have a long-range interest in linguistics, but our primary goal is to find where each utilitarian plant can be found. Much of our research is involved in studying to determine in what month each species flowers. It took several years to locate when and where to photograph vanilla flowers. So we apologize that our linguistic tabulations will take a while to become realistic (we are seeking funding). But in the meantime, here at least are the words for vanilla in Yucatec Maya and K’ekchi’ Mayan languages, and basic Nahuatl. Che’sib’ik, Q’eqchi’, Alta Verapaz. Che’ is the generic word for tree, so sib’ik is what counts here. Siisbik, Siisbik-k’aak (Mendieta and del Amo 1981:348). Tlilxochitl, Nahuatl Learning about vanilla flavoring for chocolate in GuatemalaPrensa Libre, Guatemala City, 31 Diciembre de 2009, page 26, states that the commercial species of vanilla that is being grown in Alta Verapaz department (south of Peten) is not native to this region, but that there is a wild vanilla around, but was not as productive. They say they get their Vanilla planifolia Andrews from Rapidos Che’sib’ik, 40 km from Cobán. The report covers plantations at Canaan, El Triunfo, Asociacion de Vainilleros de Guatemala (Vaidegua) (unfortunately the telephone listed for this association no longer reaches Vaidegua; so we do not know whether any vanilla growing organization exists any more. The Prensa Libre article says during March, April, and May the farmers must pollinate the flowers by hand. Getting accurate answers about vanilla orchid vine Vanilla is not a parasiteIt is typical of copy-and-paste web sites to be inaccurate. Thus it is worth pointing out that I doubt a vanilla vine is parasitic. Vanilla as an aphrodisiac?I have never been convinced that tomatoes, pineapples, or avocados are aphrodisiacs. If you and your partner want to have pleasure together, and everyone tells you tomatoes, pineapples, or avocados will get you on, you will jump into bed anyway. None of these fruits will make much difference (though all are healthy in general). What are the health benefits of vanilla?
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