<P> Vanilla grows as a vine, climbing up an existing tree (also called a tutor), pole, or other support . It can be grown in a wood (on trees), in a plantation (on trees or poles), or in a "shader", in increasing orders of productivity . Its growth environment is referred to as its terroir, and includes not only the adjacent plants, but also the climate, geography, and local geology . Left alone, it will grow as high as possible on the support, with few flowers . Every year, growers fold the higher parts of the plant downward so the plant stays at heights accessible by a standing human . This also greatly stimulates flowering . </P> <P> The distinctively flavored compounds are found in the fruit, which results from the pollination of the flower . These seed pods are roughly a third of an inch by six inches, and brownish red to black when ripe . Inside of these pods is an oily liquid full of tiny seeds . One flower produces one fruit . V. planifolia flowers are hermaphroditic: they carry both male (anther) and female (stigma) organs . However, self - pollination is blocked by a membrane which separates those organs . The flowers can be naturally pollinated by bees of genus Melipona (abeja de monte or mountain bee), by bee genus Eulaema, or by hummingbirds . The Melipona bee provided Mexico with a 300 - year - long advantage on vanilla production from the time it was first discovered by Europeans . The first vanilla orchid to flower in Europe was in the London collection of the Honourable Charles Greville in 1806 . Cuttings from that plant went to Netherlands and Paris, from which the French first transplanted the vines to their overseas colonies . The vines grew, but would not fruit outside Mexico . Growers tried to bring this bee into other growing locales, to no avail . The only way to produce fruits without the bees is artificial pollination . Today, even in Mexico, hand pollination is used extensively . </P> <P> In 1836, botanist Charles François Antoine Morren was drinking coffee on a patio in Papantla (in Veracruz, Mexico) and noticed black bees flying around the vanilla flowers next to his table . He watched their actions closely as they would land and work their way under a flap inside the flower, transferring pollen in the process . Within hours, the flowers closed and several days later, Morren noticed vanilla pods beginning to form . Morren immediately began experimenting with hand pollination . A few years later in 1841, a simple and efficient artificial hand - pollination method was developed by a 12 - year - old slave named Edmond Albius on Réunion, a method still used today . Using a beveled sliver of bamboo, an agricultural worker lifts the membrane separating the anther and the stigma, then, using the thumb, transfers the pollinia from the anther to the stigma . The flower, self - pollinated, will then produce a fruit . The vanilla flower lasts about one day, sometimes less, so growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open flowers, a labor - intensive task . </P> <P> The fruit, a seed capsule, if left on the plant, ripens and opens at the end; as it dries, the phenolic compounds crystallize, giving the fruits a diamond - dusted appearance, which the French call givre (hoarfrost). It then releases the distinctive vanilla smell . The fruit contains tiny, black seeds . In dishes prepared with whole natural vanilla, these seeds are recognizable as black specks . Both the pod and the seeds are used in cooking . </P>

Where does the best vanilla in the world come from