The official APEC orchid was launched last night in Port Moresby by the Minister for APEC 2018, Justin Tkatchenko.
Called the ‘Dendrobium APEC PNG 2018’, the flowering plant is a hybrid created by crossing at least 3 different orchid species found within Papua New Guinea.
Minister Tkatchenko said Dendrobium APEC PNG 2018 is made up of orchid species from Central, Morobe, Sepik and the New Guinea Islands.
He said they decided to promote an orchid that is unique to our country to make the APEC event a memorable and different experience for the visiting nations.
Minister Tkatchenko said it took 3 years to breed, grow and flower the Dendrobium.
“It was bred here in PNG, grown in Singapore and here and then registered at the Royal Horticulture Society in the United Kingdom,” the Minister stated.
Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. The APEC PNG 2018 hybrid is just one out of over 1,000 of Dendrobium orchids and hybrids.
Meantime, the 17th Annual National Orchid Spectacular was also launched.
The event will be staged on May 19th and 20th at the Parliament House.
