Orchid nomenclature

[vvork]

Hi everyone,

Im new to the board and would like to ask if someone could possibly help me with a question concerning orchids named after known personalities.There are a some interesting examples I came across such as the supposed renaming of an orchid initially registered as Cattleya Joseph Stalin. Or the Kimilsungia named after Kim Il sung, several orchids named after princess Diana and orchids named after actors from Jackie Chan to Greta Garbo (by Raymond Burr).

If you know of any further examples I would be very interested to find out as Im just researching this for an essay on orchid nomenclature.

Many thanks in advance,

Oliver

[Cym Ladye]

You might visit the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) website and see what comes up. They are the official registrar for all orchid crosses applied to name. I do not know of a short cut except to find the registration page, type in a partial name and see what comes up.

You might also browse the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate catalog which is on their website. They have had a lot of orchids of all genera named after famous people.

You might also pick the names of some famous characters and type a genus of orchid ie Cattleya or Cymbidium and the name and see what comes up on Google. It may lead you to other genera.

Thousands of orchids of all genera have been named after famous people, legal or not. Technically, the registrant of the cross needs to get the permission of the living person to name an orchid after them. Once the celebrity is deceased, I suspect anything goes.

Great idea for a project! This thread might also be posted on the Identification part of this Forum. I suspect you may get a lot of input....

Keep us posted and welcome to the OB.

Cym Ladye

[Call_Me_Bob]

i know Elton Jon has a phalaenopsis named after him. and i know that one of Princess Diana's is Den. Mem. Princess Diana, its a beautiful pure white dendrobium

[tucker85]

C. Betty Ford
Rlc. Barbara Bush
Rlc. Hillary Rodham Clinton
C. Nancy Reagan

[Gage]

Vanda William Katherine

[danjdob]

lady gaga has one named after her,..but i forget what kind it is...i would gather you can find an orchid named after just about every major personality....but my favorite is Dracula Vampira. lol....technically not a real person and is a species not a hybrid...but fun nevertheless...i want one for halloween.

[lambelkip]

Cattleya Joseph Stalin was indeed renamed - to Cattleya General Patton, during World War II, when information about the atrocities commited by Stalin's government came to light. This was the only time the RHS allowed a registrant to change the registered name of a hybrid.

Kimilsungia is not a valid name, since the hybrid had already been registered under a different name (Dendrobium Clara Bundt). Until a couple years ago, the Bundt family had an Orchid Garden that was a popular tourist destination in Makassar, Indonesia

There at least 70 hybrids named after Generals (search the RHS database for the keyword "General")

There are also several named after Presidents (US and other countries - search keyword "President")
also, President's wives, as tucker85 mentioned (C Eleanor Roosevelt and C Michelle Obama are a couple others)

Elvis Presley has 3 hybrids named after him
Marilyn Monroe also has 3 hybrids named after her.