A distinct dry season turns into a flowering blessing at Fort Canning Park. Featuring the flowering splendour of Delonix regia at Raffles Terrace, capture the moment before it is gone. 

Delos means conspicuous and onux means claw, referring to the claw-like petals. This tree remains bare during the dry season and rejuvenates with a new coat of flowers with the return of the dry season. 

A deciduous tree with nitrogen-fixing abilities, wood from the tree is used for fuel and the flowers are known to control beetles and caterpillars with its insecticidal properties. Catch more flowering glimpses of the clove - Syzygium aromaticum and the Sterculias if you are lucky!

Delonix regia at Raffles Terrace

Attached are photographs of a green baron butterfly taken at HortPark’s Home Garden recently. The two photographs feature the same butterfly but the one (on the right) with it perched on the Cestrum does not show the full colouration. If we all feel that plant scientific names and the Families are mind-boggling and a mouthful to pronounce, you would be amazed at the names and Families of butterflies. It is common for butterflies‘ scientific names to come in 3 parts (Genus, species and sub-species) with more difficult Family names.

Scientific Name: Euthalia adonia pinwilli

Family: Nymphalidae

Sub-Family: Limenitidinae

Common Name: Green Baron, White-Banded Red Baron

Host Plant: Dendrophthoe pentandra (mistletoe)

Euthalia is made up of the greek words eu which means “good, well” and thalia which means “blooming, flourishing”.

Members of this family are usually brush-footed butterflies where the reduced pair of forelegs are covered in dense hairs. This pair of front legs are used to clean their antennae and other parts of their body whereas the other two pairs are used for walking. Butterflies from this family have a distinctive way of flying by stretching out their wings and gliding for a while until the next wingbeat. They are difficult to capture on film as they are alert and fly rapidly.

This species is instantly recognisable by their greenish colouring and red spotting on their hind wings. It is rare in Singapore and is seldom seen. The males are more often encountered in open sunny spots in the nature reserves, usually feeding on the Melastoma malabathricum (Singapore Rhododendron). The female is shown above and the forelegs are reddened in males. Like the Delias hyparete metarete (Painted Jezebel), the host plant is the mistletoe and as such, they are almost impossible to rear in an artificial environment.

Gary Chua

Wanna make a guess which plant(s) am I highlighting? And where? Cocos? Terminalia? Spathodea? Claoxylon? Samanea? Caryota? Paraserianthes?

Hint 1 – The genus that sounds the most alien to you.

Hint 2 – Focus on the center of the photograph.

Hint 3 – Featuring one of them only.

Bingo or not. There you have it - Claoxylon indicum. Known by the Chinese as 白桐树 (Bái Tóng Shù). The 白 (white) in the name is probably an impression, referring to the short, dense, matted hairs (tomentose) that cover the tree, and especially prominent on younger parts.  This handsome specimen is located just after Alexandra Arc, right at the start of the Forest Walk.

Once again, I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time. I needed photographs of Saga tree that morning but before I could get my act together, this Claoxylon tree distracted me first. I enjoyed such happenstance tremendously. The tree is a crown full of flowers, totally covered to every inch. It reminded me of fireworks.

The inflorescences/flowers are distinctively that of a Euphorbiaceae-Acalypheae. In fact, one is likely to be reminded of certain Acalyphas e.g. the very ornamental shrub - Acalypha hispida, owing it to its habit and manner of flowering. In fact, I started my name-hunt for this tree from words like ‘Tree Acalypha’ and ‘Acalypheae’ but got bumped around till I got it.

Like other Acalypheae, Claoxylon indicum is dioecious. (Dioecious refers to a plant with either male or female flowers but never both.) Noticed the puffed flowers, with many short ‘tentacle’ projections? This is a male Claoxylon indicum, and a very handsome one. It is recorded that the staminate (male) racemes can grow as long as 40 cm, while the pistillate (female) racemes are only 7 - 12 cm long and much compacted.

This small tree is native to Singapore. It can reach 20 m tall. Something I found out is that, the wood of the tree produces suffocating smoke when burned, so it is not suitable as firewood.

I have always noticed the existence of this tree, especially at forest edging and disturbed vegetation but never seriously till it flowered like that. Some trees really need to flower hard to get our attention. I wondered…how many Southern Ridges visitors had noticed this ‘firework’ too?

It is right at the bend where the red star is. With so many views of the tree, I’m sure you know how the tree looks like by now! Ha! Go catch it while it last! The lucky thing is…this ‘firework’ last more than a few seconds.

Keneric Ng

It is the time of the year again when the prices of roses reach astonishing figures everywhere! Although roses are traditionally associated with Valentines’ Day, there are also other plants that can be used to convey your feelings to your loved ones. After all, it is the thought that counts!

One such example is the sweetheart hoya with its interesting heart-shaped leaves. The Chinese name of Hoya kerrii is ”凹叶球兰” which literally translates into ‘dented-leaf hoya’ due to the presence of a clef in its leaves. Individual Hoya kerrii leaves and entire plants can sometimes be found on sale in selected nurseries and florists in Singapore when Valentine’s Day is around the corner.

The sweetheart hoya is botanically known as Hoya kerrii and is a member of the milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae). The plant is a succulent, epiphytic and vining climber that is native to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The heart-shaped leaves are green and fleshy, which are attached oppositely along the stem via 1 - 3 cm long petioles. These leaves are around 1 – 2 mm thick and can grow up to 12 cm in size! Besides the all green version of Hoya kerrii, you can also find the more attractive variegated form, called Hoya kerrii ‘Albomarginata’, on sale in local nurseries. The leaves of this variety are green in the centre and yellow at the sides, as if green paint has been splattered on a yellow background.

When wounded, Hoya kerrii secretes a poisonous and sticky white sap

Hoya kerrii leaf comes in a bundle of pine bark and you can re-pot it easily in porous soil

Hoya kerrii ‘Albomarginata’

The plant is rather slow-growing and prefers to be situated in a bright area, away from direct sunshine. Hoya kerrii bear umbels of star-shaped, cream-coloured flowers with red centers. It can either be propagated by leaf or stem cuttings. Take care when taking cuttings as the plant secretes a white sticky sap that is poisonous. In cultivation, Hoya kerrii is susceptible to attacks by mealy bugs and scales.

Hoya kerrii leaves are very affordable and unique gifts for that someone special. To decorate a leaf, let your creative juices flow freely and then paint your desired design on it! One can use acrylic paints for this purpose! For those of us who are not artistically inclined and cannot paint can rely on commercially available stencils. Acrylic paints and stencils can be obtained easily from shops that sell art and craft materials.

Alternatively, you can also try decorating your heart-shaped leaves with nail stickers (those used in manicure). Nail stickers are ideal due to their waterproof property!

Materials used- acrylic paints, brushes, palette, stencils

DIY Hoya gift for that special someone

So, get going and grab your Hoyas before they run out!

References

 http://www.rareflora.com/hoyakerii.htm

http://www.briansgarden.com/2001/03/hoya-kerrii.html

Personal observations

Lim Jin Hong (Plant Information Unit, HortPark)

When I first got to see my office some 3 and ½ months ago, I was given a choice between a ‘corner unit’ and a ‘corridor unit’. Although I would have loved to have a cubicle with a much larger space, I chose the latter as it’s much brighter and gets the afternoon sun – perfect conditions for ‘hatching’ my ‘green plan’. Since the area was rather large and my plants were all quite tiny, I figured that I would colonize the area in phases…

Before…

And After, in 3 months!

The lighting and exposure that I get for my cubicle ranges from direct sunlight (at the windowsills and part of another storage unit) to bright shade, and it’s ideal as it allows me to grow a rather diverse range of plants with differing light requirements. The plants that are grown on top of the cabinet are mainly those that are happy with bright, indirect lighting and a little more moisture, such as begonias and many of the gesneriads.

One of the Standard African violets that I bought from one of the local nurseries – each flower is about 4-4.5cm across, which makes it almost the size of a ‘Tau Sar Piah’ (Bean cake)! I’ve also inherited a number of Mini African violets from a friend who has relocated to Thailand recently. While they (the ones with the entire leaf margins) may not look really small in this photo, you’d be surprised at how petite they really are in comparison with the Standard violets! 

Apart from the violets, some of the other gesneriads have also started to flower. Kohleria ‘Marquis De Sade’ is a rather popular hybrid amongst gesneriad growers overseas as they flower abundantly and are relatively fuss free, and are thus ideal houseplants. This plant can also grow and flower under our local conditions without the need for air-conditioning, so it may be worth a try if you are looking for something different!

Another gesneriad that has flowered recently is x Achidonia ‘Very Good’, an intergeneric hybrid between the genus Eucodonia and Achimenes. I jokingly told a friend that I realized how the hybrid could have got its name – the flowers were indeed ‘very good looking’! This one bloomed just in time for Chinese New Year, so I brought it back home, much to the delight of my mum.

 This one bloomed just in time for Chinese New Year, so I brought it back home, much to the delight of my mum.

A lovely plant with or without flowers, this Begonia species is one of a few that I’m keeping in the office. As it is rather prone to drying out, I’ve kept this one in a small ‘display box’ to maintain humidity levels while it grows.

This is just a snap shot of some of the plants in ‘Phase I’ of my ‘green plan’, so stay tuned for more updates!

Lily Chen

As I was walking along the road opposite the NUS law library, I spotted some beautiful red flowers on the usual wasteland along the roadside.  On closer inspection, it is actually the creeper, Gloriosa superba, displaying its unique convoluted petals that close up to form a cage.

A pollinated flower of Gloriosa superba

 A pre-pollinated flower

Flower at bud-opening stage is light green in colour.

Petals bend backwards to reveal reproductive system

Although considered as a weed along this road, it can do up your garden beautifully as a creeper on fences and lampposts.  It requires moderate watering under partial to full sunlight.  Do wash your hands after handling it, as this plant is known to be extremely toxic although it is still used as a medicinal herb for certain aliments.  The orientation of this flower is unlike the others.  The anthers and stigmas instead of being enclosed by the corolla, stick out at the base of the flower.  This encourages large insects or small birds with long proboscis/beaks as pollinators.  You can actually tell whether the flower is being pollinated by the colour of the petals.  Pre-pollinated flowers have petals that are crimson at the tip, yellow in the middle and greenish near the base.  Post-pollinated flowers have petals that are crimson throughout, or with a hint of yellow at the base.  Gloriosa superba practices sequential opening of the flowers to encourage cross-pollination so that different gene combination gives this species a higher chance to invade and survive in different adaptations. (Gupta and Raina, 2001)

Being too engrossed with taking photographs of this unique flower, I brushed against a large spider, Nephila antipodiana, also known as batik golden orb web spider because of the batik patterns on the abdomen of the female.  Fortunately, the spider did not give me a nasty bite, although its venom would be rendered quite harmless to human beings.

Female spider that is about 7cm in length.

The male spider of the same species is just about 1 cm in length

Walking down further the road I see a pair of trees “hugging” each other, with some parts of the trunk already joined together.  This is quite a common phenomenon but what a perfect and lovely ending to my short walk!  Making so many discoveries in a day made it indeed gloriously superb.

References

L.M. Gupta and R. Raina. Significance of Sequential Opening of Flowers in Gloriosa superba L. Current Science Vol 80, No. 10, p 1266, 25 May 2001

Eleanor Soh

Check out what’s the latest happenings at our community garden in Jurong Central Zn G RC…

With the festive seasons just over Mdm Kwoh Toh did not waste the baskets that she received instead she used them to plant cuttings from our garden herbs, ornamental they just look lovely.

Flower Basket

Mdm Kowh Toh and her lovely flower baskets!

Be sure to add a layer of waterproofing at the base of the basket…

before adding the soil and proceed to plant in your desired plants.

The dry spell have made all the flowers around our garden blooming with flowers like asters and zinnias, they are attracting lots butterflies too. On a good day we counted about 12 butterflies of different species in our garden, which it is a sight to behold.

Isn’t it wonderful?

Another type of plant, which also attracts the butterflies. Isn’t the flower pretty?

Do keep a lookout for our next post and updates from us at Jurong Central Zn G RC Community Garden!

Mdm Kamisah