On the Trail of Pulai's

Sunday - Feb 25 been chasing for Pulai flower for the whole day and performed numerous 'poke poke' latex test. I arrived at Toa Payoh Garden under the hot hot sun. Only a few Pulais were seen but none were flowering. Then i proceed to downtown to explore Fort Canning Park. Here the pulais are larger and taller. Only one tree bore some remnants of the flowers ( see image below). I picked up two leaf samples. I continue to explore the large Fort Canning compound until rain forced me to leave the place. Then i went to Lily's neighbourhood - not much luck either and the rains seems to follow me whenever i go starting from the day before - Saturday at Sentosa Forest Walk!
I took two leaves samples from this plant in Fort Canning with remains of flowers showing. The intrapettolar stipule from each leaf confirms the ID to be A. Scholaris. The lingering fragrance of burnt sugar was still there.

I was 'studying' the bark of the pulai tree
when i noticed this fellow well camouflaged. But it flew away when i touched it.
Good things come in pairs - the velvet-like skin of butterfruits.

A short distance away
Two birds are lapping up the nectar from
the red firecracker flowers
and

It was challenging to use the MF of the S3
on a moving object like this Sunbird(?) hopping from
flower to flower looking
for nectar..... this is one of the better shots

Near the 'spice' garden close to the Keramat....
these red round fruits stood out... among the green

My 2nd encounter with the Alphinia Galanga(blue ginger?) again
but this time
i cracked
open a fruit to reveal the lumpy mass inside
( see below)

" The Chosen One " - to be axed?

Such splendid Terentang tree

Destiny Unknown

Arial roots of Dracaena maingayi
Does 'H' means Heritage Tree?

Cable cars passing constantly over the 'threatened' forest below.Or wait until one day there is no forest left to
enjoy?

SBG - CNY day 5

5th Day of Chinese New Year Holiday I decided to visit Singapore Botanic Garden SBG again.
Spent an hour plus combing through all the plants books in the reference library before I headed for a heavy lunch ( gee - it was nearly full house on a weekday!). It was hot and crowds thinned. I relied on my time-tested method - looking down under the trees and shrubs instead of look up. If you find interesting fruits then look up to find them on the branches. Of course there are exceptions... I visited the Garden Shop and gotten two interesting books.

The first thing i noticed was.....wow a large scale wild pillow-fights?? ... fluffy cotton wools were strewn everywhere!!

'Evidence' at close range .. a fluffy ball..I poked and 'peeled' open the feathery ball...

A seed was found nestling 'comfortably' inside..


No, this is not a furry animal ...
the seedpod of Kapok(cotton in Malay) tree or Ceiba pentandra
the cotton-wool like came from the giant Kapok tree(designated Heritage Tree)
at Lawn O with impressive large lateral buttress roots system.



walking a little distance away - i notice tiny flowers of a ginger sp.


Then I saw a mutilated tree - many
had slashed the trunk to see whether latex flows while others
still carved their & love ones' initials on cacti

Finery is to be wore 'inside' or underneath - even plant adopted
this -- see how colorful the underside of this leaf

Red caught my attention... CNY !
The pretty flower of the red berry above.


Fruits of behesa robusta - Red flowered malayan spindle tree.


Mushroom? No - this is how a budding sausage tree or Kigelia africana's fruit look like.


In time they will grow and grow... and 'netting' are used on the heavy ones in case it hurted someone


Monkey pot or Lecythis ollaria - flying saucer or bee's hive?


This one with the interial emptied... and natural home for some .. like

Bees had built their hives inside the woodly cavity ... .. layers of honeycombs still seen inside of this discarded pot.

Unusual blue color from the fruits of Elaeocarpus angustifolius or Blue Marble Tree.


A few blue berries are visible on upper left hand corner.
Yet another example of tree with leaves wiltered red*
* can you guess why i am so interested in the red leaves...