{"id":44,"date":"2020-06-17T16:34:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T23:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/?page_id=44"},"modified":"2020-07-07T16:56:11","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T23:56:11","slug":"achlys-triphylla-vanilla-leaf","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/achlys-triphylla-vanilla-leaf\/","title":{"rendered":"Achlys triphylla"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Family: Berberidaceae<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common name: Vanilla-leaf<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E-flora BC: http:\/\/linnet.geog.ubc.ca\/Atlas\/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Achlys%20triphylla<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wikipedia: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Achlys_triphylla<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanilla-leaf is a common understory plants in the woods around Nanaimo. The plant is about 30 cm tall. The scientific name is descriptive, tri = three, phylla = leaf. You’ll note that each compound leaf has 3 leaflets. The leaflets are broadest at the tip and narrowest where they attach to the leaf stalk (the ‘petiole’). When you touch the leaf, you’ll notice that it has a soft surface texture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We usually find vanilla-leaf where there’s a bit of moisture in the ground and where there is some shade from taller plants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This image shows a vanilla-leaf plant. What looks like many individual plants with flowers, are the many leaves and flower stalks growing out of a criss-crossing underground stem (a ‘rhizome’). Note how the leaflet of a given leaf is broad at the tip and narrow where it attaches to the leaf stalk (the ‘petiole’). The flowers of vanilla-leaf occur in early summer. When you’re out in the woods in the fall, studying for Botany, you may not see any flowers, only the leaves. Photo credit: Lynda Stevens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A nice close up of the flower spike of vanilla-leaf, Achlys triphylla<\/em>. The spike is an ‘inflorescence’, a cluster of individual flowers arranged along the tip of the flower stalk (the ‘peduncle’). Photo credit: Lynda Stevens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Vanilla-leaf leaf, showing the three leaflets of the compound leaf. Note the venation and the wavy outer edge, and the attachment point to the leaf stalk (the petiole). Photo credit: Lynda Stevens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vanilla-leaf contains sweet-smelling compounds called coumarins (https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/pdfplus\/10.1021\/ja01958a026<\/a>). Some people pick bunches of vanilla-leaf leaves in early summer, hang the bunches upside down to dry them and then enjoy the scent throughout the year. Try crushing a bit of vanilla-leaf between your fingers and see if you can smell the coumarins. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Family: Berberidaceae Common name: Vanilla-leaf E-flora BC: http:\/\/linnet.geog.ubc.ca\/Atlas\/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Achlys%20triphylla Wikipedia: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Achlys_triphylla Vanilla-leaf is a common understory plants in the woods around Nanaimo. The plant is about 30 cm tall. The scientific […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2649,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-44","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":717,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/44\/revisions\/717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol223\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}