Ethnobotany and Plant Conservation - Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, Como Park, St. Paul, Minnesota: Manila is not a Vanilla

There was a wonderful brightness in the conservatory today. The misters in the Fern Room were on when I walked through. What a beautiful and serene feeling to be surrounded by mist in a room full of beautiful tropical ferns! If you haven’t seen this room, you should come visit soon!

Vanilla planifola

Before the conservatory opened, I had a nice quiet walk around the conservatory which was very relaxing. This is a beautiful way to start a morning!

The north garden conservatory seemed cooler than usual today. As I walk around the north garden, I see that the vanilla orchid has a beautiful bloom. That flower will not turn into a vanilla pod unless it is pollinated by hand.

Musa textilis

I also see that the manila hemp plant (Musa textilis of the family Musaceae – banana family) has bloomed a beautiful purple inflorescence.

Walking out of the north garden and around the palm dome, I found a large collection of the conservatory’s orchid entries in the Minnesota Orchid Show last weekend. The fragance was as sweet as the sight of all of those beautiful orchids. They are here for a very short time for public viewing. Hopefully, some of these beautiful orchids might find their way to a spot in the conservatory for continued public viewing.

The big common fig that recently undergone pollarding is now sprouting new growth. Growth will continue until the next years pruning.

I met another conservatory volunteer today and spent much of today having interesting conversations with her as well as multiple Como visitors.

The plant of the day is the manila hemp plant, Musa textilis of the Order Zingiberales, Family Musaceae.

Manila hemp, also known as manilla, is not really hemp, it is a fiber material obtained from the abacá plant, a relative of the banana plant. The plant name comes from the capital of the Philippines, a primary producer of abacá.

This fiber material was once used primarily to make manila rope, but is now used to make many other products like manila envelopes, manila paper, hats, furniture and tea bags. Currently, abacá is commercially grown in the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica.