vanilla plant

American  

noun

1. a composite plant, Trilisa odoratissima (orCarphephorus odoratissimus ), of the southeastern U.S., having purplish flower heads and vanilla-scented leaves used to flavor tobacco.

---

Etymology

Origin of vanilla plant

First recorded in 1745–55

Example Sentences

It takes four years for a young vanilla plant to produce a flower, and the flower lasts for just one day.

From Washington Times • Apr. 26, 2021

Among other special products of this vicinity is the aromatic vanilla plant, which is indigenous here and grows in wild abundance in the forests, proving a great source of income to the industrious native gatherers.

From Aztec Land by Ballou, Maturin Murray

Brady's recent address before the British Pharmaceutical Conference at Swansea: The vanilla plant is trained on poles placed about twelve or eighteen inches apart—one planter has a line of plants about three miles in length.

From Scientific American, Volume XLIII., No. 25, December 18, 1880 A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures. by Various

The vanilla plant, also, is one of the wonderful inmates of the forests.

From From Pole to Pole A Book for Young People by Hedin, Sven Anders

Pineapples are also seen growing vigorously, and also the vanilla plant, which resembles tobacco in its leaf.

From My Native Land The United States: its Wonders, its Beauties, and its People; with Descriptive Notes, Character Sketches, Folk Lore, Traditions, Legends and History, for the Amusement of the Old and the Instruction of the Young by Cox, James