Ain’t that Carica papaya? That’s right! Easy peasy hur? But did you notice anything amiss…something unusual? Yes? No?? Nes? Ok…this fellow has that distinct maroonish-purple petiole, which is non-typical of any Papaya plant that I had came across. (Please share with me if you know about this Papaya.) Mr Lee Chong Kee, our retired colleague who is an expert in fruit trees told me that he had impression of seeing some of it oversea.

‘Normal’ Papaya plant has pale greenish petiole but this one…as you can see, very coloured and only transiting to green before it ‘touches’ the leaf blade.

Flowers. (Sorry for the bad quality as I took it from an awkward position.) It is either a female or hermaphadite plant. I hope it is a hermaphadite so it can self-fertilize, as I am terribly curious on how the fruits might look like, especially the coloration. I definitely want the seeds too!

For people who like economical plants & fruit trees, do consider checking this uncommon Papaya plant out. Its location is marked with a ‘red doughnut’ on the map. It is facing the main road, up on the retaining wall. Sad to say, unless you come equip with a ladder, you can only view it from below. (I will most probably go with a ladder this friday to have some up-close.)

Of course, I am clueless on how this plant ends up there. It is most probably the deed of the birds? Who knows? Or just maybe…the plant is glamorizing itself up with purple and red for Christmas?

If I don’t get to ‘see’ you again, I wish for your Christmas to be all jolly and nice…if not, purple & red! Merry Christmas!

Keneric Ng

While I was walking along the roadside from Raffles Building to NUS law canteen for lunch, I saw something that caught my attention.  The native orchid, Bulbophyllum vaginatum, was in bloom!  Bulbophyllum vaginatum is very common in Malaysia but in Singapore, they are only restricted to old trees in Bukit Timah area, and some of the nature reserves and reservoirs in Singapore.  Hence I was really excited to see this growing wildly on trees along the roadside.  Although I cannot be sure if these plants are being reintroduced and being purposely planted there. Around 221 species of native orchids have been recorded in Singapore, but 170 of these are considered to be extinct, and only four are viewed as common (Yam, Thame, 2005). 

Native plants are the original species occuring in a place, hence they are highly adapted to the local conditions, temperature and climate.  They also help to support the local native animals which depend on these plants for food or shelter.  Moreover, planting native species in different areas of Singapore will lessen the probability of them being extinct, and losing along with them the plants’ unqiue genes which may be important for future research. (Hugh Tan, 2006)   Naturally, conservation and reintroduction of native species is of utmost importance to global biological diversity.  Contrary to common belief, native plants are just as colourful and beautiful as the exotic species and should require less care and maintaince because of their adaptibility.

But before you head out to purchase native plants for your garden, do ensure that those plants are propogated from original wild species and not collected directly from our forests.  If that is so, it’ll defeat the purpose of conservation and even speed up the rate at which we are losing our native species.

References

Tim Wing Yam and Aung Thame, September 2005.  Selbyana, The Journal of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Conservation and Reintroduction of the Native Orchids of Singapore, Vol.26, Issue 1, pp. 75–80

Tan, H.T.W. 2006. Nature Reserve Parks, Gardens and Streetscapes: Today Singapore, Tomorrow the World.

Eleanor Soh