| Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim | |
| Genus: | Papilionanthe |
| Hybrid: | Papilionanthe teres (Vanda teres) × Papilionanthe hookeriana (Vanda hookeriana) |
| Grex: | Miss Joaquim |
| Origin: | Singapore |
Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim, also known as the Singapore orchid, the Princess Aloha orchid and formerly as Vanda Miss Joaquim, is a hybrid orchid (a grex) that is the national flower of Singapore.[1] For its resilience and year-round blooming quality, it was chosen on 15 April 1981 to represent Singapore's uniqueness and hybrid culture.
Ashkhen Hovakimian (Agnes Joaquim) found this orchid in the late 1880s in a clump of bamboo (Ridley Gardeners' Chronicle 24 June 1893 p. 740) It was recognised as a hybrid not only by orchid expert Henry Ridley in 1893 and again in 1896. Most leading orchid scientists consider it to be a natural hybrid and so stated in orchid journals including the Orchid Review and books. Sander's Complete List of Orchid Hybrids, which distinguished between natural and artificial hybrids, listed Vanda Miss Joaquim as a hybrid. Vanda Miss Joaquim is a cross between the Burmese Vanda teres (now called Papilionanthe teres) and the Malayan Vanda hookeriana (now called Papilionanthe hookeriana). It was not known which of the two species produced the seeds and which one provided the pollen. The hybrid was shown to Henry Ridley, the director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Ridley examined it, had it sketched and sent a description to the Gardeners' Chronicle writing that: "A few years ago Miss Joaquim, a lady residing in Singapore, well known for her success as a horticulturist, succeeded in crossing Vanda hookeriana Rchb. f., and V. teres, two plants cultivated in almost every garden in Singapore."[2] [3]
On 15 April 1981, Singapore Minister for Culture S. Dhanabalan proclaimed the species to be Singapore's national flower.[4]
DNA sequences from maternally inherited chloroplast DNA have been used to determine that the pod parent was P. teres var. andersonii and, by exclusion, the pollen parent is P. hookeriana.[5]
In 2016, National Parks Board and National Heritage Board officially acknowledged Joaquim created the orchid.[6] Prominent orchid scientists do not agree (see book by Hew Yam and Arditti and article by Arditti and hew)
The scientific name as of 2019 is Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim, as both parent species are now placed in the genus Papilionanthe.[7]
This orchid is also the first registered plant hybrid from Singapore.[8]
It is a free-flowering plant and each inflorescence can bear up to 12 buds, and usually 4 flower blossom at a time. Each flower measures 5 cm across and 6 cm tall.[9] The petals are twisted such that the back surface faces the front like its parents. The two petals on the top and the top sepal are rosy-violet, while the 2 lateral sepals on the lower half are pale mauve. The large and board lip of the orchid which looks like a fan is colored violet-rose, and merges into a contrasting fiery orange that are finely spotted with dark purple center.
Papilionanthe 'Miss Joaquim' is a robust sun loving plant that requires heavy fertilizing, vertical support to enable it to grow straight and tall along with free air movement and high humidity. It starts blossoming after its stem rises 40 to 50 cm[10] above the support.