An exotic orchid now bears the Chancellor’s name: the impressive plant with its fine flowers was christened “Renanthera Olaf Scholz” during the SPD politician’s visit to Singapore. The plant is bright red, like the Chancellor’s party color. At a ceremony at Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official residence on Monday, Scholz provided the specimen with the appropriate name tag.
He had previously said: “I didn’t become a politician now so that a plant would be named after me, to be honest. But I still feel honored.” A Renanthera is extremely floriferous and likes it bright.
The orchid is the national plant of Singapore. It is customary in the Southeast Asian city-state to name an orchid after the guest on state visits. Two varieties of the plant are usually crossed for this purpose.
There is already a “Dendrobium Angela Merkel” in honor of the ex-Chancellor and a “Dendrobium Frank-Walter Steinmeier” named after the Federal President. In the past, Singapore had already named tropical plants after Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher and the Japanese Emperor Akihito, among others. This honor is also called “orchid diplomacy” in the economic metropolis.
Federal Foreign Office on the Singapore G20 Summit
