FLOTUS Flower Power: Award-Winning Orchid Named for Melania Trump

Those who engage in orchid breeding call this newly minted variety a “showstopper,” and its namesake is also putting it in the spotlight.

The Rlc Melania Trump is a fuschia-hued first-of-its-kind hybrid cattleya orchid, according to Bloomberg:

During its monthly competition over the weekend, the American Orchid Society honored the orchid with one of its coveted HCC (Highly Commended Certificate) awards. Judges, who rate specimens on as many as 15 criteria, scored the Melania at the top of the HCC range.

The five most popular types of orchids are paphiopedilum, oncidium, dendrobium, cattleya, and phalaenopsis.

“And cattleyas are the most glamorous of all,” Arthur Chadwick, president of Chadwick & Son Orchids Inc., who raised the winning flower, told Bloomberg. “This variety was a fashion statement from the 1920s to 1960s. They’re the most visually appealing, and they require significant care.”

This is no grocery store flower. Not just anyone can pick a pretty flower and call it “Melania.”

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