Vanilla ramosa Rolfe

Epiphytic, glabrous, leafy liane of indeterminate length with slender roots of various lengths arising at nodes.. Internodes up to 13 cm. long and 7 mm. diameter, succulent, terete, dull green, with single leaf arising at each node opposite or subtending each adventitious root.. Leaves fleshy, very widely elliptic to oblong-elliptic, shortly acuminate to obtuse, rounded at the base, up to 8–16 cm. long and 3–6.5 cm. broad.. Inflorescences usually axillary, frequently branched especially towards base, densely many-flowered, up to 8 cm. long.. Bracts triangular, very small.. Flowers white, creamy white or occasionally pale buff-yellow, lip marked rosy mauve to purple.. Tepals oblong-lanceolate to elliptic; dorsal sepal slightly cucullate, up to 3 cm. long and 1.2 cm. broad; lateral sepals similar with incipient callus-like keel towards apex.. Petals up to 2.5 cm. long and 1 cm. broad, shallowly grooved along entire length on dorsal surface, with a pronounced keel running along centre of groove to within 2 mm. of petal-apex, apical 1 mm. of keel free, porrect.. Lip up to 2.5 cm. long and 2.7 cm. broad, distinctly and equally 3-lobed; mid-lobe slightly crenulate, bearing tufted crest of several backwardly sloping parallel dendritic lamellae and a raised smooth callus-like keel running from lamellae towards base of lip; side lobe margins adnate to column for entire length.. Column clavate, up to 1.8 cm. long, basal two-thirds adnate to lip side-lobe margins.

In rain forest.