Orchid hybrid named after Aung San Suu Kyi
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Chew Hui Min
SINGAPORE - An orchid hybrid was named after Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday (Dec 1).
Ms Suu Kyi visited the National Orchid Garden with Foreign Mininster Vivian Balakrishnan in the morning.
The Papilionanda Aung San Suu Kyi is a hybrid of the Papilionanda Josephine van Brero and the Vanda Varut Fuchsia.
This is a "robust and free flowering hybrid", the National Parks Board (NParks) said.
Each of the blossoms, measuring about 9cm across, have a prominent waxy, reddish purple lip, it added.
"The sepals and petals are a delightful pastel bluish purple adorned variously with fine purple spots and tessellations," NParks said.
The plant produces upright flowering sprays, each bearing up to 10 large blooms.
More than 100 celebrities and heads of state have been welcomed to Singapore by having an orchid named after them.
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is on a three-day visit to Singapore. She met Acting President J. Y. Pillay at the Istana after the naming of the orchid.
