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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Jimski, post: 7935308, member: 77373&quot;]1995 Hong Kong, 10 dollars, issued 1993-96 … taken from circulation in Hong Kong in 2002.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1372148[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1372611[/ATTACH]</p><p>The obverse device of all Hong Kong circulating coins feature a flower from the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia blakeana).&nbsp; This tree has an interesting history.&nbsp; Hong Kong orchid trees are sterile … they cannot reproduce naturally.&nbsp; They must be cultivated by hand.&nbsp; All Hong Kong orchid trees are believed to be clones of a single tree discovered around 1880.&nbsp; The tree was discovered by a French Catholic missionary and botanist Jean-Marie Delavay near <i>Pok Fu Lam </i>(1) on Honk Kong Island.&nbsp; From cuttings of the tree he found, he cultivated a tree or trees <i>at Béthanie, the sanatorium run by the Paris Foreign Missions Society</i>(1).&nbsp; Later a cutting was given to what is now the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens.&nbsp; There it was scientifically documented and given the name Bauhinia blakeana. It was <i>widely planted in Hong Kong starting in 1914.</i> <i>{Wikipedia}</i>&nbsp; Today it is also found in the USA and Australia, and I imagine elsewhere throughout the world.&nbsp; You can find it for sale on the internet.&nbsp; HK orchid trees require a tropical to sub-tropical climate.&nbsp; They have a very limited range in the USA.&nbsp; They grow to 30 - 40 ft, bloom from January to May, and the flowers are fragrant.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1372612[/ATTACH]</p><p>All orchid trees, including the variety Bauhinia x blakeana, are not related to the orchid flowers.&nbsp; They are given the name “orchid’ because their flowers resemble the orchid flower.&nbsp; Orchid tree is actually in the family of legumes, a diverse group of bean-pod bearing plants ranging from small annual herbs, through woody shrubs to giant perennial trees … the family includes peas and beans.&nbsp;&nbsp; However the HK orchid does not produce pods.&nbsp; A feature touted by sellers on the internet, as the pods can be unsightly.</p><p><br /></p><p>{Wikipedia} The flag of Hong Kong depicts a white stylised five-petal Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia blakeana) flower in the centre of a Chinese red field. Its original design was unveiled on 4 April 1990 at the Third Session of the Seventh National People&#039;s Congress. … The flag of Hong Kong was officially adopted and hoisted on 1 July 1997, during the handover ceremony marking the transfer of sovereignty from Britain back to China.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1372613[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">The regional flag carries a design of five bauhinia petals, each with a star in the middle, on a red background. The red flag represents the motherland and the bauhinia represents Hong Kong. The design implies that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China and prospers in the embrace of the motherland. The five stars on the flower symbolise the fact that all Hong Kong compatriots love their motherland, while the red and white colours embody the principle of &quot;one country, two systems&quot;</font></p><p><font size="5"><br /></font></p><p><font size="5">Modern studies have identified the HK orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) to be a hybrid&nbsp; between Bauhinia variegata and Bauhinia purpurea.&nbsp; {Wikipedia, Bauhinia × blakeana} </font></p><p><font size="5">[ATTACH=full]1372619[/ATTACH] </font></p><p><font size="5"><br /></font></p><p><font size="5">(1) Both parent plants ... can self-fertilise and be fertilised by pollen from a flower on a genetically different plant. … As the parent plants overlap partially in their flowering periods and geographical habitats, and since they share the same range of bee and butterfly species as pollinators, it is feasible for Bauhinia purpurea and Bauhinia variegata to interbreed. … Kwan Hoi-shan, a molecular biologist and a core member of the Bauhinia Genome project, says this isn’t uncommon in hybrids {to be sterile}[ATTACH=full]1372614[/ATTACH] . </font></p><p><font size="5"><br /></font></p><p><font size="5">(1)<a href="https://zolimacitymag.com/how-did-the-bauhinia-a-sterile-flower-become-the-symbol-of-hong-kong/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://zolimacitymag.com/how-did-the-bauhinia-a-sterile-flower-become-the-symbol-of-hong-kong/" rel="nofollow">https://zolimacitymag.com/how-did-the-bauhinia-a-sterile-flower-become-the-symbol-of-hong-kong/</a>&nbsp; </font></p><p><font size="5"></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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