It is the time of the year where the tembusu tree (Fagraea fragrans) is in flower again. All trees in Singapore have synchronised to flower together! The pretty five-petalled flowers are borne in a bunch. When they first opened, they are white and they gradually turn yellow and finally light orange before they fade. They also emit a distinctive and delightful fragrance. Whenever there is a light breeze, the perfume emitted by the large number of opened flowers will be brought to one’s nose. After the flowers fade, the tree produces red but bitter-tasting berry-like fruits.
The tembusu, with its pagoda-shaped crown, is a relatively common ornamental tree in Singapore. Its trunk is covered with a deeply fissured bark and the tree has an irregular canopy shape and leaves are light green and oval in shape. The tembusu tree can be found growing on the roadside, public parks and neighbourhood residential areas. The tree that has been pictured on the reverse side of the Singapore five-dollar bill is the large tembusu tree that is growing in Lawn E in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Well known to be a very hardy tree species belonging to the Loganiaceae family, the tembusu is native to Southeast Asia and India. It is reported to be able to thrive and bloom under poor growing conditions and can grow in a wide range of soil types from poorly aerated, compact clay soils to poor sandy, shallow sandstone soil. The tembusu is a riverine tree that is also tolerant of growing in soils with running water. It can be found growing in light primary and secondary forest in humid or seasonally inundated locations.
This tree can grow quite large and capable of reaching a height of about 25 m. Tembusu has medicinal properties where its bark is boiled and the resulting decoction is used as a febrifuge and a decoction of twigs and leaves is used to control dysentery.
What is very well known about the tembusu is that its wood is very hard and durable that is resistant to rot and termite attacks. Timber from the tembusu tree has been used in heavy construction. Did you know the chopping boards we see at the chicken rice or butcher stalls in Singapore are also made from timber from the tembusu?
