Orchid graces Hong Kong as the national flower from the year 1965. The flower which derives its name from the Greek word ‘orchis’ meaning ‘testicle’, is found to grow abundantly in Hong Kong adorning places like the public and private gardens and parks of the country

The tree was believed to be discovered as early as 1880. S.T Dunn in his first description of the tree, named it after Sir Henry Blake who was the Governor of Hong Kong from 1898 to 1903. The Hong Kong orchid tree is a unique plant. Unlike the other orchid trees, this particular plant is leguminous in nature and belongs to the family of garden pea.

The people of Hong Kong love the flowers and consider it ideal for gifting due to its long life. It is also used for decoration. Vanilla essence is obtained from a particular genus of orchid bearing the same name and is extensively used in foodstuff flavouring. The swollen tubers of the terrestrial orchid are grounded and used in cooking. These tubers were believed to be aphrodisiacs in the olden times. Orchid flowers are frequently used for making perfumes and thus the country’s economy largely thrives on the orchid making it, appropriately, the national flower of Hong Kong.