Humboldt's Vanilla - Comoros

Vanilla Humboltii - The Humboldt’s vanilla is an orchid native to the northern region of Madagascar and the nearby island chain of the Comoros. The plant is an epiphyte and is usually found growing in rocky terrains at elevations less than 200 meters. The Humboldt’s vanilla plant grows to heights of about 14 centimeters. There are more than 100 species within the genus of vanilla orchids, a genus distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

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Until the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Comoros served as an important provisioning station for ships passing through the Mozambique Channel as they sailed from Europe to Asia. The earliest inhabitants of Comoros came from Africa and consisted of Arabs, Bantu speaking people, and the Shirazi, a sub-group of the Swahili people. The Portuguese, Dutch, and British had an interest in the island, but it was the French who held Comoros as a colony until independence was granted in 1975.

Plants of South Africa - Red Disa

Disa uniflora - The red disa, also known as the pride of Table Mountain, is a member of the orchid family. The genus disa contains about 180 species with most originating from Southern Africa. It has a native range confined to the Sandstone Mountains of South Africa’s Western Cape province. It prefers areas near waterfalls, moist cliffs, small streams or mountain seeps; a seep is a wet area or pool fed by an underground aquifer. A perennial plant, the red disa grows to heights ranging from 15 to 60 centimeters and puts out new plants through runners, stems growing on or just below the soil. Flowering occurs during the summer months, December to March, and results in large scarlet or deep red blooms measuring almost 10 centimeters in length; pink, orange and yellows blooms are rare. The red disa relies solely on the Table Mountain beauty, a butterfly in the Aeropetes genus, for pollination. 

Dove Orchid - Panama

Peristeria elata - The dove orchid is native to Central America and Northwestern South America. The inner petals of the white flower are loosely speckled with pink or purple spots and resembles a dove in flight when in full bloom. It thrives as a terrestrial plant in lower elevations, but attaches itself to the trunks of hardwood trees as an epiphytic plant in higher and more humid settings. Illegal harvesting has placed the dove orchid on the critically endangered species list.

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The Panama Canal cuts a length of 77.1 kilometers across the isthmus of Panama in connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Depending on traffic, it can take from 8 to 10 hours to pass through the canal. France began excavations in 1881, but stopped in 1884 because of financial loss, construction delays, and health issues; the harsh conditions of the mosquito infested jungles claimed thousands of lives. The United States took over the project in 1904 and completed the Panama Canal in 1914.

Orchids - Timór-Leste

Habenaria ankylocentron is a rare orchid restricted to the Lesser Sunda Islands. It grows to a length of about 17 centimeters and roots in rocky crevices where enough soil has accumulated. Orchids are one of the largest groups of flowering plants and have different characteristics when compared to other plants; orchids have extremely small seeds and feature resupinate flowers. This describes a flowering plant having one of its petals specially adapted to attract insect pollinators.

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Between 1509 and 1511, Portuguese traders established a mission on the island of Timór. This led to Portugal’s control of Timór-Leste for more than two centuries. A 1974 military coup in Portugal installed a new government willing to divest itself of colonial possessions; Timór-Leste was granted independence in 1975. Indonesia occupied the area in the same year in an attempt to incorporate Timór-Leste into Indonesia. In 2002, Indonesia relented, and Timór-Leste became fully independent.