Champerai Trail on National Day

It has been more than 6 months since I last visited a forest in Singapore. This year has been an especially interesting one, since I have changed a few of the priorities of my life because of some chance events. Nevertheless, I am glad to say that my obsession with plants did not falter.

Since I have a bit of time to spare this morning, I decided to head down MacRitchie Reservoir for a walk around the Champerai Trail to familiarised myself back with its floral life.

I was in luck! The Bats Laurel, Prunus polystachya, was showing off its fluffy white flowers during national day.

The entire tree was flowering profusely as you can see.

In cahoots with the Bat’s Laurel, the Aidia densiflora also decided to show off its national pride by hanging out their bright and red berries. It was really quite a spectacle to behold when almost all of these individuals along the boardwalk decorated the landscape in these dots of red.

Not to be left behind, a few Clerodendrum laevifolium managed to display its black fruits flanked by its red starry sepals.

From my writing, I was in an obvious cheerful mood today. Three Pacific Swallows also shared my joy by whistling loudly and flying back and fro to a low lying branch.

There is a plant whose identity eluded me, for now. Looks like it did not managed to get its fruits ripen in time for this festive season though.

It is quite unfortunate that most of the visitors who venture to this nature reserve gave scant notice to the rich and beautiful flora life here. So if you happen to be one of them, open your eyes wide next time!