Vanilla flowers pollinated by hand (1830s–1840s)

One review gives 1832 for Edmond Albius on Réunion; a historical review gives 1841 for Albius and 16 February 1836 for Charles Morren in Liège. The record keeps all three and chooses none.

Read the essay

The record

Each field carries its evidence: open a chip for the source, the quoted words and the confidence. A field with nothing behind it says so and stays empty.

Date

1832–1841 (range)

documented

In the 16th century, after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, vanilla was introduced in Europe but was not cultivated outside of its native range until 1832, when Edmond Albius, from Reunion Island, developed a technique for manually pollinating the flowers [13].

GC-6 · de Oliveira RT, da Silva Oliveira JP, Macedo AF · read 2026-09-30
VAN-1 · Karremans AP · read 2026-09-30

the filed sources disagree: GC-6 dates Albius’s technique to 1832; VAN-1 says his discovery was "allegedly, in 1841" and records Charles Morren’s hand fertilisation in Liège on 16 February 1836

confidence B

Label

documented (a source states it)

house label

the house’s own reading, labelled as such

one of the four labels of the Reconstruction Lab (A §6.4), chosen from what the cited source itself says

confidence B

Kind

cultivation

house classification

the house’s own reading, labelled as such

the house’s grouping of events for the timeline

confidence B

What happened

Artificial pollination of vanilla flowers is worked out: by Charles Morren in Liège and by Edmond Albius on Réunion, whose method made the crop.

documented

On the 16th of February 1836, Morren … to artificially fertilize a Vanilla flower

VAN-1 · Karremans AP · read 2026-09-30

confidence B

Place

not on record

not on record

no place on record for this event

People

• Edmond Albius (grower, Réunion)
  documented

  In the 16th century, after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, vanilla was introduced in Europe but was not cultivated outside of its native range until 1832, when Edmond Albius, from Reunion Island, developed a technique for manually pollinating the flowers [13].

  GC-6 · de Oliveira RT, da Silva Oliveira JP, Macedo AF · read 2026-09-30

  confidence A

• Charles Morren (naturalist, Liège)
  documented

  On the 16th of February 1836, Morren … to artificially fertilize a Vanilla flower

  VAN-1 · Karremans AP · read 2026-09-30

  confidence A

Where the sources disagree

• The year: GC-6 gives 1832 for Albius’s technique; VAN-1 gives 1841 ("allegedly") for Albius and 16 February 1836 for Morren’s hand fertilisation. The record gives the range and all three. (GC-6, VAN-1)

Materials

• cured vanilla pods

Botanicals

• Vanilla planifolia Andrews

Sources

1. GC-6 · de Oliveira RT, da Silva Oliveira JP, Macedo AF. Vanilla beyond Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla × tahitensis: Taxonomy and Historical Notes, Reproductive Biology, and Metabolites. Plants (Basel) 2022;11(23):3311. DOI 10.3390/plants11233311. PMID 36501350. PMCID PMC9739750. doi.org/10.3390/plants11233311 · read 2026-09-30 · CC BY (open access, MDPI, as the article states); short quotes only, the text is not filed
2. VAN-1 · Karremans AP. A Historical Review of the Artificial Pollination of Vanilla planifolia: The Importance of Collaborative Research in a Changing World. Plants (Basel). 2024;13(22):3203. doi.org/10.3390/plants13223203 · read 2026-09-30 · CC BY 4.0

These records are published under CC BY 4.0.

this record as data: /data/event/vanilla-hand-pollination.json · version 1 · updated 2026-09-30 · confidence B