Vanilla orchid flowers

It's my understanding that the vanilla orchid comes from Mexico and that it is the only edible orchid in the world. The cured bean is the source of that wonderful flavor that goes into vanilla ice cream. Evidently the flower is not easily pollinated, which might explain why few people here have seen the fruit. As you can see from the image, there are two flowers and several buds. I don't remember having seen flowers from the other buds and one one of these flowers produced the vanilla bean. Coming up in the next post.