"Iris Cohen" wrote in message ...
Vanilla is a genus of orchid not a bean, Donald.
To be able to self pollinate the flowers, you would first need to be growing
the plants in full bloom!!! BRBR

Actually I believe the vanilla fruit is considered a pod, but it is often
called a bean. It is quite different from other orchid fruits, most of which
are capsules. One reason vanilla is so expensive is that the vanilla pods
require extensive preparation before the vanilla essence is extracted.



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Sorry I cannot find all the posts on this, therefore, I am replying here.

Taking my copy of:—

JW Puseglve & et al
Tropical Agriculture Series
Spices
Longman 1981
Chaper 11 Vanilla pg. 644-735


p. 644
"The fruits are usually refered to as vanilla beans."

p. 648
Fruit
"The capsule, know in the trade as a bean, in pendulous, narrowly cylindrical, obscurely three-angled,
10 - 25 cm long and 5 - 15 mm in diameter......"

NB - I was not writing for publication only for da Net!

The largest expenses of vanilla is that the plants have to be hand pollinated!!

"The flower is so constructed that self-pollination of the individual flower is impossible, unless
hand-pollinated, due to the separation of the stamen from the stigma by the rostellum."

The plants only flower once a year over a period of two months. ... Fruit set is highest when pollination
is done very early on a bright morning following rain!!



--
donald j haarmann
-------------------------------
Professor Edgeworth of All Soul's avoided conversational
English, persistently using words and phrases one expects
to meet only in books. One evening, Lawrence [the famous
Lawrenece of Arabia] returned from a visit to London, and
Edgeworth met him at the gate. "Was it very caliginous in the
metropolis?"
"Some what caliginonus, but not altogether ins****ated,"
Lawrenece replied gravely.