Vanilla Orchids: Natural History and Cultivation

Ken Cameron

Jan 2012 · Timber Press

About this ebook

With more than 30,000 known species, orchids represent the largest family of plants. But only one genus has agricultural value—the Vanilla orchid. Leading orchid expert Ken Cameron covers the natural history of the world’s most popular flavor and fragrance and provides an introduction to the pollination, biology, structure, evolution, and diversity of Vanilla and related orchids. Vanilla Orchids also features methods for bean harvest, curing, and processing for enthusiasts who want to try it at home.

About the author

Ken Cameron developed a passion for botany at an early age, and became one of the first people to apply modern DNA sequencing methods to the study of orchid evolution and classification. As a result of his international lab and field research, he has become the world’s authority on Vanilla and its relatives. He served as a curator and director of the New York Botanical Garden’s molecular systematics laboratory for ten years before relocating to the Midwest. Today he is professor of botany and director of the State Herbarium at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.