Vanilla wariensis Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1911) 30
Type: Schlechter 17472; 19928 (syn B, lost)
Twining, tall climber; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous. Stem terete, branching, glabrous, fleshy, c. 1 cm diam., internodes 12-17 cm long. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, fleshy, 27-35 by 5-6.5 cm; petiole fleshy, short, 1.5-2 cm long. Inflorescence carrying flowers almost up to the base, elongated, to 30 cm long, many-flowered; rachis rather thick; floral bracts patent, oblong, subobtuse, very small. Flowers erect-patent. Sepals oblong, subobtuse, glabrous, 4.5 by 1.7 cm. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals similar to the sepals, obtusely apiculate, glabrous, mid-vein on outside thickened, as large as the sepals. Lip broadly cuneate, adnate to near the middle of the column, near the apex with undulate-crenulate margins, 3-lobed, 3.5 by 2.5 cm; lateral lobes rounded; mid-lobe longer, semiorbicular, 0.5 cm long, apiculate, with crispate margins; in the centre of the lip with a large quadrangular, scaly, cristate-lacerate band, at the base of the mid-lobe with another band covered with subulate-pointed warts, with 5 thickened median nerves, the apical half of the lip glabrous. Column semiterete, glabrous, 2.5 cm long, at the base of the clinandrium on either side with a very small auricle. Anther square-rhomboid, cucullate, glabrous, dorsally emarginate. Ovary glabrous, 3 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Not recorded.
Habitat: Terrestrial climber in lowland forest; 300 to 500 m.
Flowering time in the wild: April, June.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 719-68M.JPG.
Cultivation: Warm growing terrestrial, requires shaded position.