Women's tennis star Serena Williams took home a trophy and more than $2 million for her win over Romanian Simona Halep in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals in Singapore on Sunday, but an orchid named after her really captured her heart.
The orchid hybrid bears purple and white-coloured flowers in line with the WTA's colours, and it blooms throughout the year.
The Dendrobium Pramot x Burana Charming was named after singles winner Serena Williams This hybrid has a striking purple lip, offset by the pale petals, some with a blush of light purple at the tip. The flared petals suggest energy and speed, and the parentage makes it likely these will be long lasting flowers. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD
It is a hybrid between Dendrobium Pramot and Burana Charming. Doubles winners Cara Black from Zimbabwe and Sania Mirza from India also had the orchid honour.
The Dendrobium Thonglor Jewel x Queen Southeast were named after doubles team winners Cara Black and Sania Mirza. The slightly arching flower spikes carry elegant flowers of a creamy white heavily flushed with pastel purple-pink. The lip has a striking flared form, offsetting the white throat at the centre of the flower. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD
The three women are the next sports celebrities celebrated this way in Singapore, after golfer Annika Sorenstam, the world's top female golfer at the time, took part in the Lexus Cup here in 2006.
The Singapore Tourism Board said that the flowers were named after them to echo WTA's ideal of expanding women's roles in sport and society.
Orchid christening goes a long way, with the first named in 1956 after Lady Anne Black, the wife of a former governor of Singapore.
The nearest you can get to some celebrities, dignitaries and visiting heads of states is probably at the National Orchid Garden at the Singapore Botanical Gardens.
Here are others who have had hybrid orchids named after them.
1. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan holding up a picture of Ascocenda Shah Rukh Khan, an orchid named after him at the National Orchid Garden. -- PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN
2. Britain's first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher
Britain's first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher admiring the orchids at the orchid enclosure in Botanic Gardens. -- PHOTO: ST FILE
3. Singaporean singer-songwriter Stefanie Sun
Singer Stefanie Sun at the Singapore Garden Festival-Orchid Show prize presentation, where she became the first local celebrity to have an orchid named after her. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
4. Renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli
Renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli stands beside the hybrid named after him, which was showcased at the Celebrity Orchid Display in the National Orchid Garden in 2010. -- PHOTO: YTL CORPORATION
5. Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan
Dr Tan Wee Kiat (left) of the National Parks Board (NParks) with UN secretary general Kofi Annan (centre) at an orchid naming ceremony in 2000 in Singapore. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL PARKS BOARD
No comments:
Post a Comment