Singapore Botanic Gardens

This is my first time to SBG since I started to learn plants (more seriously). All my previous visits had been just for mere picnic, strolling and doing other leisure activities like any other visitors here.

SBG definitely seems like a nice place to learn plants, with comfortable walking trails, and especially, with identification tags. While it is rather far from my house, in a two years time, when the SBG MRT station is up, I will certainly come here more often.

The fruit of Artocarpus altilis, or Breadfruit is edible. I wonder if these thin, elongated fruits above are an abnormity or just the immature fruits.

Just a distance away, beneath the prop roots of the coastal pandan, Pandanus odorifer, are its bright orange fruits.

After listening to other people’s description about this plant, I finally get to see by myself the fruits and flowers of the Cynometra cauliflora, which were formed on the trunk and branches of this tree.

After noticing me looking at this Uncle who was harvesting some fruits of the Thevetia peruviana, he came to me and commented that they looked like testicles of a person. I can only reply him with a blank stare =.=”

This flower of the Torch Ginger, Etlingera elatior, is used for flavouring curry and laska. Just behind the ginger is Corner House, named after the famous botanist EJH Corner, who used to be an assistant director of SBG. Now, this building is used as a restaurant.

At the entrance to SBG is an impressive row of Oil Palms, Elaeis guineensis. Native in Africa, it is now commonly cultivated throughout the tropics. Apparently, almost all of the Oil Palms in this region actually derived from 4 seedling trees planted in Bogor Botanic Gardens during the mid 1800s.

These shiny blue fruits caught my eye. They belonged to an exotic Elaeocarpus species, E. angustifolius, also aptly named as the Blue Marble Tree.

The Nibong palm, Oncosperma tiligarium really makes a nice ornamental plant with its clustering and tall habit!

I thought that this is quite a nice shot. ^^ A man who is dwarfed by nature. The palm is a commonly cultivated palm here, Livistona roundifolia.

A huge heritage tree, Terminalia subspathulata stood guard at the entrance of the Botanic Gardens Jungle.

Another impressively huge tree was this Cotton Tree, Ceiba pentandra.

And lastly, my walk ended at the Botanic Gardens library where there is a display of some uses of plants, like for eg., Abrus precatorius being used for rosaries (above).

Virgin trip to Mandai Mangroves

My first time to Mandai Mangroves, organised by RY, and accompanied by two new friends JY and BC. I have to admit that the reason I have not come here is because of my overwhelming laziness. Haha, at least I am here now.

Upon entering the mangroves, RY pointed out these moths. They are aquatic ( I meant their larvae of course), hence known as the aquatic moths, or Eristena mangalis; ‘mangal’ meaning mangroves.

This climber, Finlaysonia obovata, is probably one of the first plants that I learnt when my fetish in green stuff started. One might probably scoffed its status as critically endangered when visiting Mandai because it is sprawling all over the place!

This is its small furry flower,

And the horn-like fruits.

Some have ants covering over the groove of the fruit in a sea of black. I think they are probably herding scale insects located there, which I had seen before previously in Berlayar Creek mangroves.

A beautiful dragonfly of which I have no idea of the ID. Perhaps I should buy the dragonfly book published recently. Help?

A majestic maze of prop roots of the Bakau tree, Rhizophora species. I was imagining that someone should build a Rhizophora roots inspired playground! That will be quite cool right?

This strand of overhanging climber is probably Dischidia nummularia.

The leaves are smaller in comparison with Dischidia major (above), the latter also having swollen glands where ants made their home in. And hence, commonly called the ant plant.

Here is a triplet of their flower buds.

A very pretty flower with yellow stamens flanked by pink petals. This is a relatively uncommon shrub, Brownlowia tersa.

RY pointed out its comical butt-shaped fruits.

Johor Bahru seems like a short distance from here!

The dead tree infested with the long horn beetle, visible by the many circular holes drilled into the trunk.

Besides Brownlowia tersa, this is another new mangrove plant for me, Merope angulata.

I took a lick at one of the fruits and it tasted citrus-like. Apparently, it belongs to the family Rutaceae, same as other citrus plants like Pomelo and Lime. No wonder we saw a lime butterfly caterpillar on one of the leaves too. Unfortunately I did not take a photo of it, but perhaps RY will show it later on his post.

Fruits of Caesalpinia crista. This is a nasty little climber of the mangroves because of its many recurved hooks that will give a painful scratch if one brush by,

RY suspected these leaves as a variation of Intsia bijuga.

The two other bigger Intsia trees that we saw have the typical blunt tip leaflets.

We also saw its two dehisced and one unripe fruits but seems like something had already taken a bite on it.

The intertidal zone spread out for like 200 metres? from the mangrove edge. Within the soft mud were so many half-buried mangrove horsecrab crabs that we were apprehensive of stepping on one.

Hmm, what is so interesting over there where RY is standing to take some pictures?

Here it is! BC mentioned that it looked like a Cuckoo, and sure enough it looks close to a Lesser Cuckoo from other pictures in the internet. (Apparently it is an Indian Cuckoo, as corrected by an anonymous reader.) It perched long enough for me to take some decent shots before flying away.

There were many platforms with stairs leading up to them. I guess that houses used to be on top of them but now they were excellent nesting spots for the Bird’s Nest Fern, Asplenium australasicum.

This Mangrove Cannonball tree, Xylocarpus granatum have many bowling balls on top of us!

Lastly, just before we left the place, was a cluster of pretty wild flowers, Bidens pilosa.

After washing our pants and booties in the canal, we have to climb up of it by crawling on all fours. Haha!

I have no idea what they were doing for this though. Probably to avoid the grass from tickling them I guess. ^^ Somehow, it felt like I am pointing a gun at them from the back. lol!

Back to MacRitchie

Wishing everyone a happy new year with this Hoya latifolia flowers!

Today was a tiring day, went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens (will blog that another day) for a walk before going back school and then to MacRiitchie Reservoir.

Red young leaves of this Garcinia probably griffithii sapling. Heard from KY that another hypothesis of why young leaves are red is because insects (many herbivores are insects) cannot see this colour.

These are, I believed the flowers of the Blue Mahang, Macaranga heynei.

There were many of these flowers scattered on the forest floor. Not sure what these are though =.=”

I saw this fruit of the climber, Willughbeia species 3 weeks ago, but it doesn’t seem to have grown in size.

Minuscule fruits from this shrub, Trema cannabina.

These are the dehisced fruits of the Thottea grandiflora. Their red flowers have sealed petals like a bell. Pity I can’t find it today.

Lastly, dark purple young leaves and the distinct crescent  stipules from Aporosa benthamiana.