Singapore declared the Vanda Miss Joaquim as its national flower in 1981. This orchid (scientifically named Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim) is named after Agnes Joachim, a celebrated botanist of the island city-state. Agnes was born in Singapore in 1854, the second child of a prominent Armenian family, with strong roots in horticulture. Her father, Parsick Joaquim, sat on the board of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, while her mother Urelia was a keen gardener who regularly won prizes at flower shows. Agnes also developed a passion for flower cultivation, specialising in orchid breeding.
In early 1893, she gave a plant to Henry Ridley, botanist and director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. She had crossed Burmese Vanda teres with the Malayan Vanda hookeriana. Ridley was a leading expert on orchids. After carefully examining the plant, he sent a detailed description to the Gardeners’ Chronicle, which published a report about the new Vanda Miss Joaquim on June 24, 1893, along with details of two other new hybrids.
Ridley also sent cuttings to his friend Sir Trevor Lawrence, another expert on orchids, in the UK. Trevor nurtured the plant, and in 1897, he exhibited the Vanda Miss Joaquim at the Royal Horticultural Show in London. The plant was not exhibited in Singapore until the 1899 Singapore Flower Show, where it won the first prize, and went on to become a commercial success in the floriculture space.
However, soon after, Agnes succumbed to cancer, aged 45. In the following years, controversy began to brew whether the Vanda Miss Joaquim was a product of nature or an artificial hybrid bred by Agnes. In September 2016, Singapore gave credit to Agnes as the breeder of the national flower, putting an end to all accusations.
