• The Mandarin term “胡姬” is the transliteration of the English term “orchid”. 
• In 1893, Agnes Joaquim, a Singapore horticulturalist, invited Henry Ridley, the first director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, to her garden, which was blooming with orchids. This opened up the market for planting orchids in Singapore. Her orchids were hybrids, which were subsequently planted by the Singapore Botanic Gardens. This was how the famous Vanda Miss Joaquim hybrid originated. In 1981, it became the national flower of Singapore.
• At present, there are about 30,000 known species of orchids in the world, about 2,000 of which are cultivated in Singapore. The colours of orchids vary from white, yellow, pink, purple, brown to sky blue, and many more. 
• Since 1956, the Singapore Government began to name new orchid hybrids after visiting dignitaries, as a highest form of honour.

The National Parks Board will spend S$35 million to update and upgrade some of the facilities in the National Orchid Garden, and to create a new tropical alpine Orchid Exhibition Hall. (Lianhe Wanbao, 1/7/2017)

兰花 (Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong)

In Mainland China, "胡姬" specifically refers to a group of orchids known as "洋兰" (“foreign orchids”), which are different from "国兰" ("Chinese orchids")