Papilionanda Mike and Karen Pence

[YetAnotherOrchidNut]

Singapore Botanical Gardens honors visiting world leaders with a registered orchid in their name. This one is for Mike and Karen Pence from their visit in 2018 hen he was Vice President of the USA. (See this post for more details about the SBG.)

Unfortunately this one wasn't in flower, but at the risk of being accused of only posting orchids named after democrats I thought I would include this anyway. For those wondering, while President Trump did visit Singapore it was only long enough for his (very brief) summit with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un, and he did not visit the gardens so they did not name a plant after him as far as I can tell.

[smweaver]

As the former governor of my state, I would think that an appropriately fragrant bulbophyllum would have been a better choice for naming after our beloved vice president and his charming wife.

[YetAnotherOrchidNut]

Originally Posted by smweaver

As the former governor of my state, I would think that an appropriately fragrant bulbophyllum would have been a better choice for naming after our beloved vice president and his charming wife.

I haven't worked out how they choose which plants. I suspect they just pick whatever is in flower that can be registered in time. But at first I thought they might be using dendrobium for democrats but then I realized both vp Kamal Harris and vp Mike Pence got a papilioanda. Thatcher and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth also got dendrobiums so I don't think it's political. They have an entire garden of these celebrity orchids, quite a whose who of world leaders over the few decades.

Singaporeans are relatively title conscious and extremely respectful so I doubt they would ever use a bulbophylum. But thanks, your post made me laugh.