Vanda 'Miss Joaquim', also known as the Singapore Orchid and the Princess Aloha Orchid, is Singapore's national flower. For its resilence and year round blooming quality, it was chosen on 15 April 1981 to represent Singapore's uniqueness and hybrid culture. Ashkhen Hovakimian (Agnes Joaquim) (1854-1899), a Singaporean woman of Armenian descent, bred this orchid, the world's first cultivated orchid hybrid.
It 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. 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 5cm across and 6cm tall. 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. Vanda '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 above the support.
About the stamps
The stamp is part of the series National Day - Areas of Historical Significance in Singapore, issued on August 8, 2011.
References
Vanda 'Miss Joaquim' -Wikipedia
Sender: Marius Vasilescu
Sent from Singapore, on 21.03.2016
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