The orchid as Confucius' "king of the flowers"

A news article is claiming that "Confucius often referred to the orchid as the king of all flowers." Did Confucius ever say such a thing? As far as I can tell, the closest utterance of his to this is found in "The School Sayings of Confucius" 孔子家語, where he is quoted saying, "芝蘭生於深谷，不以無人而不芳；君子修道立德，不為困窮而改節。" ("The orchid grows deep in the valley; even if no one is about it emits its fragrance. The junzi cultivates the Way and establishes his virtue; even if he is in difficulty or poverty, he does not waver in his integrity.")

The poet Cai Yong 蔡邕 claimed that when Confucius came across a solitary orchid, he said that it emitted its fragrance for kings (爲王者香), but now it bloomed alone among ordinary plants, just as the wise like himself were not employed by rulers but were left to mingle with ordinary people. "夫蘭當爲王者香，今乃獨茂，與衆草爲伍，譬猶賢者不逢時，與鄙夫爲倫也。"

Nowadays, "王者香" is used to mean orchid, but Confucius apparently never called orchids the "king of flowers".

On the other hand, that same article goes on to say that Confucius wrote "The association with a superior person is like entering a hall of fragrant orchids." (與善人居，如入芝蘭之室). Incidentally, the original continues, "After a long while, one no longer smells their fragrance, and comes to resemble them. The association with an inferior person is like entering a salted fish shop; after a long while one no longer smells the stench, and comes to resemble them" (久而不聞其香，即與之化矣！與不善人居，如入鮑魚之肆，久而不聞其臭，亦與之化矣。) This is also from "The School Sayings of Confucius". (Which has only tenuous connections to Confucius anyway).

Apparently it was Zhang Xueliang 張學良 who said that the orchid was the "king of flowers": "The orchid is the king of flowers; it's odor is mild and its appearance is elegant." "蘭是花中的君子，其香也淡，其姿也雅".