Category Archives: Flowering plants

Plants that flower, usually ornamental, exotic and common…

The Step-ladder Costus

Posted on May 22, 2009 | Leave a comment

Costus malortieanus, commonly known as the  Step-ladder Costus is an interesting spiral ginger to grow. Native to northern South America and central America, this particular species produces only a few leaves on a short pseudostem. Typical of members of Costaceae, its leaves are arranged in a spiral manner, making each leafy shoot look like a propeller when viewed from the top.

In terms of its growing conditions, this Costus species prefers to be grown under shadier conditions outdoors than most others. When growing conditions are ideal, its leaves take on an emerald green colour with darker lengthwise striations.  They are quite nice to feel as each leaflet is densely covered with short soft hairs.

Like many other similar spiral gingers, I noticed Costus malortieanus usually grow up to about 2 feet (60 cm) in height, when it is grown under semi-shaded areas outdoors where the plant receives filtered sunshine, although there are sources on the Net that indicated it can grow up to 3 feet (90 cm) tall. Under brighter conditions, the plant usually becomes shorter but the emerald green colour on this spiral ginger’s leaves fade to a pale, unappealling and sicky light green colour. The striations also disappear altogether.

Costus malortieanus prefers to be grown in fertile, well-draining soil that is also moisture-retentive. Its roots need to be kept moist but not wet at all times. It seems to be particularly sensitive to drying out and it is best to grow plants in shady locations protected from wind. Plants can, fortunately, tolerate a couple of hours of direct mid-day sun, as long as the soil is kept moist. Moisture-stressed plants respond by droopy leaves that make each leafy shoot appear like a closed umbrella. Prolonged drought sets plants back severely. 

Costus malortieanus produces flowers on a bright green, fat cone-like inflorescence.The bracts on its cone are tightly clustered together, making it look smooth with no obvious scales. In my opinion, the inflorescence of  Costus malortieanus is not particularly showy like those produced by a handful of other Costus species. Flowers appear from between the bracts and are bright yellow marked with red stripes.

In Singapore, Costus malortieanus is not a plant that is commonly or easily available. For those of us who are familiar with spiral gingers, one would have noticed that non-flowering specimens of Costus malortieanus look very much like Costus curvibracteatus (sometimes referred to as Costus productus). Costus curvibracteatus is a commonly used local landscaping projects valued for its showy orange cone of bracts.

As a result, Costus malortieanus often gets mixed together with Costus curvibracteatus that are sold in local nurseries. This manifests itself in various local landscapes which I have come across, such as the one shown above – a border of low-growing costus at the KHA restaurant at HortPark. Individuals of Costus malortieanus grown together with Costus curvibracteatus only become apparent when they start to flower.

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So Pretty but so SOUR!

Posted on May 20, 2009 | Leave a comment

Flacourtia inermis is a fruit tree that is commonly known as lobi-lobi and tomi-tomi in Indonesia, rukam masam and lovi-lovi in Malaysia. The plant is a fruit tree that can grow up to a height of 15 m. Some internet sources indicated that it is native to Malaysia but according to the Plant Resources of Southeast Asia (PROSEA), this tree is said to be only known in a cultivated or semi-cultivated state, widespread from India through Malesia to New Britain.

Several individuals of Flacourtia inermis can be seen being planted in the grounds of HortPark (the Gardening Hub of Singapore located off Alexandra Road). It is an ornamental tree that can be planted in a park or garden. The tree’s mature leaves ovate-oblong to ovate-elliptic in shape and are glossy on the upperside. The young flushes of leaves with toothed margins are particularly attractive as they are bright orange in colour. This colour fades off to become a green colour as they mature. Some varieties have been distinguished, based on differences in leaves.

Flacourtia inermis produces very attractive bunches of fruits that measure up to 2.5 cm in diameter and appear as globose, deep red berries when they are ripe. Like many other fruits, they are green when they first appear. Tempting as they were, the ripe red fruits, however, in my opinion, are not exactly palatable as I find them very acid and astringent to taste. They are said to be excellent for making tarts, jams, syrup and preserves.

Like many other fruit trees, Flacourtia inermis can be propagation by using seeds. When there is a tree available, one can propagate it via air layering or budding. It prefers to be grown in a location where it can receive full, direct sunshine and in soil that is well-draining, fertile and moisture retentive. Mulch around the base of the tree using organic compost or manure to promote growth. Flacourtia inermis is not tolerant of waterlogged conditions though. The tree does not produce fruits all year round. In Java where the climate is relatively similar to Singapore, the tree flowers in January and February and fruits ripen after 4—5 months.

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Posted in Flowering plants, Fruits, Trees, Tropical ornamentals

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Tembusu in Flower!

Posted on May 18, 2009 | Leave a comment

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?

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Raffles Building’s Bulbophyllum vaginatum in Flower!

Posted on May 10, 2009 | 4 Comments

Those of us who work or recently visited Raffles Building that is near National University of Singapore’s Law Faculty and Singapore Botanic Gardens would have noticed a spectacular floral show put forth by Bulbophyllum vaginatum that are growing from the branches of the old rain trees (Samanea saman) that are planted in the carpark.

The Bulbophyllum vaginatum plants are growing on the rain trees for years and have largely colonised almost every branch on each of the trees there. The plants formed a tidy dense mat that enveloped the branches all around. With this large number of plants around, the gregarious flowering that is believed to be triggered by a recent rainstorm is hence very massive and hard to miss. The rain trees are literally dotted with thousands of bright yellow flower heads of Bulbophyllum vaginatum! 

Bulbophyllum vaginatum is an epiphytic orchid that is native to Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. It is a sympodial orchid that spreads via a series of pseudobulbs connected at the base and each pseudobulb bears only a single, leathery, oblong-shaped leaf. The flowers it produces are quite unlike those that we would normally associate as orchids. Bulbophyllum vaginatum produces bizzare-looking flowers that are borne in a tight cluster and the ‘strings’ that dangle are actually the flowers’ lateral sepals.

Another epiphytic orchid, the pigeon orchid (Dendrobium crumenatum) that are grown amongst the large population of Bulbophyllum vaginatum can also be seen to be in flower. The attractive white flowers with a distinctive yellow spot on their lips of the pigeon orchid are borne on pendulous pseudobulbs. The pigeon orchid is also  a sympodial orchid that is well known for its habit to burst into blossom whenever there is a rainstorm after a hot and dry spell. The drop in ambient temperature of more than 5.5 deg C is reported to be the trigger that induces flowering.

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Posted in Flowering plants, Tropical ornamentals

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Ribena Plant

Posted on April 30, 2009 | 7 Comments

Most Singaporeans know that the fruits that go into the making of Ribena are blackcurrants and the plant that produces them is not well adapted to grow in the tropics. Fortunately, the roselle plant is a blackcurrant plant substitute that can be grown in the lowland tropics. The roselle is totally unrelated to the blackcurrant. Botanically known as Hibiscus sabdariffa, the roselle plant is a member of the hibiscus family, Malvaceae while the other hand, the blackcurrant, Ribes nigrum, belongs to the rose family, Rosaceae.

The pink flower of the roselle plant that looks like a small hibiscus.

To make the original Ribena drink, the fruits of the blackcurrant are used but to make a beverage that tastes like Ribena from roselle, one has to use the calyces produced by a particular race of a cultivar of the roselle plant, Hibiscus sabdariffa var. sabdariffa ruber. Calyces (plural; calyx, singular) are the collections of sepals that form a structure that is found just behind the petals of each flower. Sepals in most flowers are green in colour and they form the outer protective covering of a flower bud.

The calyces of the roselle plant are relatively fleshy and they remain so during the fruit formation process. They can be harvested and used fresh, after removing the fruit capsule, to produce a rather sour drink that is deep red in colour made by boiling in water. The decoction that result needs to be subsequently sweetened by adding sugar. The beverage that best served after being chilled in a refrigerator is believed to possess anti-hypertensive, diuretic and mild laxative properties. It contains high amounts of vitamin C and anthocyanins, which are natural antioxidants. The calyces can also be picked and dried in the sun where they can then be kept in a cool and dry place for future use. In Singapore, one can easily buy large packets of dried roselle calyces in Chinese medical halls.

The calyces of the roselle plant are useful for making drinks as well as a decorative cut-flower.

The roselle plant is easily raised from seeds or stem-cuttings. They make good beginner’s plants for children who love to drink the Ribena beverage. The roselle plant needs to be grown using well-drained, fertile soil and located in an area with direct sunshine. It can be planted outdoors in the ground or inside a container placed on a sunny windowsill or balcony. Although not as showy as its ornamental garden counterparts, the roselle plant produces rather attractive, pink-coloured hibiscus-like flowers that have a distinctive eye in the center. They are transient beauties as the flowers only last for a day.

Another unnamed roselle cultivar with calyces that are larger and fleshier.

Various cultivars of the roselle plant exist and they mainly differ in terms of the size of the calyces they produce. One other use that I can think of for the roselle plant other than harvesting its calyces for making drinks is to use it as a cut-flower material. A stem that is fully laden with calcyes at every node, after being stripped of all its leaves does make an attractive display item in a flower arrangment for the dinner table.

Besides the food uses of its calyces, the young leaves and tender shoots of the roselle plant can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as greens alone or mixed with other greens or with meat or fish.

Note that the other cultivar of the roselle plant, H. sabdariffa var. altissima is cultivated for the production for bast fibre that is derived from stem of the plant and not for its calyces. The fibre may be used as a substitute for jute in making burlaps. Certain H. sabdariffa var. sabdariffa cultivars also yield fiber.

For more info, refer to this website –
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/roselle.html

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Vegetarian shrimps, anyone?

Posted on March 23, 2009 | Leave a comment

If you have to HortPark recently, you could have noticed some green bushes producing interesting shrimp-like inflorescences at the tip of their branches. Because of the shrimp-like appearance of the inflorescences , these plants, which are botanically known as Justicia brandegeana, are known commonly as the shrimp plant! This Justicia species was named after the American botanist, Townshend Stith Brandegee.

The shrimp plant is a member of Acanthaceae family and sometimes referred via two other common names, which include false hop amd shrimp bush. Quite a number of ornamental shrubs that are common garden plants in Singapore come from this family. Some medicinal plants that are used locally in folk medicine are also members of the Acanthaceae family.

Native to Mexico, the slightly curved inflorescences of the shrimp plant grown in HortPark have rather dark reddish orange bracts that overlap one another. There are cultivars with yellow and green coloured bracts. The true flowers are hidden between the bracts and they peek out from between the bracts when they bloom. Flowers appear from the end nearest to the stem outwards the tip of the inflorescence.

As a plant, the shrimp plant grows as a rather short shrub with a rather lanky habit. It is recomended to grow several plants close together and in the garden, the shrimp plant can be used to create a border or grown inside a flower bed. To prevent plants from becoming straggly, it is best to prune them periodically to encourage these plants to adopt a more compact and bushy growth habit. Pruning will also promote the production of new flowers as buds appear on new growth.

The shrimp plant prefers to be grown in fertile and well drained soil. Fertilise regularly and do so especially after pruning to encourage new growth. The location for growing the shrimp plant should be exposed to direct sunshine as this plant is a sun-lover. Some individuals who live in highrise apartments face problems trying to rebloom this plant, probably due to the lack of sufficient duration of direct sunshine. Plants also need to be watered generously during the hot season. Apply a layer of mulch around the base of the plant to keep roots cool and moist. New plants are easily propagated from stem-cuttings.

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Contribution to Home Concepts magazine (Mar 09)

Posted on March 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

The Garden Treats column in this month’s issue of the Singapore Home Concepts magazine focussed on a selection of plants which are used in the perfumery industry. Five different plants where featured which included the ylang ylang (Cananga odorata), champaca (Michelia spp.), jasmine (Jasminum spp.), frangipani  (Plumeria spp.) and rose (Rosa spp.). Essential oil is extracted from their flowers and are used to make various fragrance products.

From the above selection, of particular significance are two tropical flowers, namely, ylang ylang and white champaca (Michelia x alba). Essential oil from these flowers is used to make the Jean Patou cult classic, Joy and Chanel No. 5, respectively. Extraction of essential oil from flowers is usually not feasible at home due to the lack of access to specialised equipment. But one can still enjoy these flowers for their fragrance which is emitted into the space of a garden or home. Hence it will be prudent of one to grow these fragrant plants in a pot and so that they can be easily shifted around!

For the entire of March, visitors to HortPark will get a chance to know more about perfumery plants as a showcase has been put up at the timber deck located just outside HortPark’s Lifestyle Corner. The display was put up by myself and my fellow colleagues working in HortPark in conjunction with my article on perfumery plants in the Singapore Home Concepts magazine. Information on how to grow and care for these plants in the garden is provided. Guided tours of the Lifestyle Corner as well as the perfumery plant showcase, lasting for an hour, have been organised on two Saturday afternoons – 14 and 21 Mar 2009 at 5 pm.

In the perfumery showcase at HortPark, one can expect to see a few more perfumery plants in addition to the five mentioned in the article. They include the citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus), lemon (Citrus limon) and tuberose (Polianthes tuberose). As mentioned earlier, flowers are the main raw material that are harvested for perfumery uses but for citronella grass, it is the leaves that are harvested. In the case of the lemon, the peel of the fruit is used. It will be a good idea to drop by later in the evening. The fragrance of the flowers usually intensifies when night falls.

One very important thing to note for the growing of these perfumery plants is that the majority of them are sun worshippers. They need direct sunshine to grow well and produce flowers. Apartment gardeners are likely to encounter alot of difficulty in trying to get these plants to flower if there is insufficient direct sunshine at their homes. Many of these perfumery plants are also shrubs and they need to be pruned periodically to ensure they do not become straggly. Pruning will encourage the growth of side shoots which will help to keep the plant compact-looking.

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Posted in Contributed Articles, Flowering plants, Tropical ornamentals

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Hoya multiflora – The Shooting Stars Hoya

Posted on March 3, 2009 | 1 Comment

I received a Hoya multiflora as a gift after attending National Parks Board’s (NParks) Streetscape Strategic Planning Exercise that was conducted at Botany Center yesterday. The plant was grown inside a large snail shell that was attached at the end of a metal hanger and this makes it a nifty plant gift that will delight anyone who receives it. It can potentially push one to find out more about its growing needs, get one to love plants and make them fall for the gardening hobby!

Native to this part of the world, Hoya multiflora is commonly called “Shooting Stars” due to the unique appearance of the flowers. Similar to the flowers of other Hoya species, the flowers of this particular species have five petals and hence look like a star. But the ones produced by Hoya multiflora are different from the rest as they are reflexed backwards and this feature makes its flower look like shooting stars when viewed sideways.

The plant I got was grown using a minimal amount of substrate. But resist the temptation to repot the plant as hoyas are best grown potbound and as overpotting poses a chance that the plant’s roots are constantly kept wet. Overwatering or prolonged wet feet can cause the plant\’s roots and stems to rot away! Hoyas, like most other epiphytic plants, need to be watered regularly but the roots must be allowed to dry out a little before the next round of watering. Grow this plant in an area where it can get filtered sunshine for at least 4 to 6 hours daily.

This Hoya species adopts a shrub-like growth habit and does not really climb up supports. Leaves are large and dark green in colour. Its flowers are borne on an umbel and emit a strong fragrance. From the second picture shown above, the flowers can be seen to be producing generous amounts of clear nectar that appear as large droplets hanging from each flower. These sweet droplets are meant to attract pollinators to the flowers.

As stated in the new Hoya book entitled “The Genus Hoya“, written by Anders Wennstrom and Katarina Stenman, Hoya multiflora may be reclassified into a different but related genus called Centrostemma, due to the presence of features that make it differ from other Hoya species.

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Posted in Flowering plants, Houseplants, Tropical ornamentals

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Don’t cut your old Hoya flower stalks!

Posted on February 10, 2009 | Leave a comment

From what I know, not many plants behave similarly like hoyas when it comes to the production of new flower buds. Hoya are unique in this aspect because new flower buds are formed on existing old flower stalks, technically called peduncles. Unless one is aware of this interesting flowering habit of hoyas, one may tried cutting bare peduncles after the umbel of flowers have faded away

 A peduncle found on my Hoya caudata plant.

From this, one can easily link it to the fact that the more peduncles one can find on the plant, the more profuse will the flowering be when it blooms. This is true, assuming that the peduncles are not aborted soon after purchase. Hence the number of peduncles on a plant is something to look for when one is choosing to buy plants during a visit to the nursery.

Flower buds emerging from an old peduncle. 

It is important to site a hoya plant that is producing new flower buds from constant winds. I have noticed plants losing their buds which tend to yellow and then shrivel away by drying winds that blow at them too frequently. Existing peduncles can also be lost in excessively windy conditions. Note that they do not reappear on the same point along a stem from which they have withered. They only appear on new growth.

Mature flower buds that are yet to open that are formed on the same old peduncle.

Peduncles can grow up to several centimeters long depending on the species. After flowers fade away and drop off, each point of attraction via a single flower will leave a scar on the extending end of the peduncle.With time, numerous scars will be formed on a single peduncle with time, which makes me think, in my opinion, looks like a  single, hanging cordyceps that is sold as a medicinal material in Chinese medical halls.

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A very nice shophouse!

Posted on February 8, 2009 | 1 Comment

Yesterday, I was gallivanting in the town area after I went to Arab Street to get some decorative items for my work at HortPark. As I walked along, a pretty shophouse unit located in Bali Lane caught my attention. It is almost impossible to miss it as one travels along the main road.

This shophouse unit is currently occupied by a branch of HANA fashion (Singapore) and its address is 21, Bali Lane, #01-01, Singapore 189857. If you are in the area, do pop by to appreciate the good work and excellent example of shopfront landscaping and decor.

 

The striking, pink-coloured facade of this shophouse unit was probably modelled after the European-style. When I passed by on Saturday, what grabbed my attention was the nicely planted exterior of the second storey. There are three full length, white-framed windows on the second level that stood out against the pink and white contrast.

Outside each these white windows, there were two planter boxes, one was located mid-way, probably at chest height, while another was situated at the base. The planting scheme was simple and repetitive. Colours that were featured were few and they included only pink, red and green, which blended well with the look of the facade as a whole.

Green colour was contributed by the plants grown inside the window boxes. They featured the lush foliage of impatiens and anthuriums. Within this bold patches of green, there are dainty dots of pink which were the blooms of the impatiens grown inside the lower planter boxes and spathes of the flamingo flowers growing inside the upper planter boxes.

There were two hanging baskets of a darker pink rhizomatous begonia  situated on the two extreme ends of the shophouse unit. The two begonias are so well-grown that their growth has draped over the rims of the container to become round spheres!

Red was conferred by some red-foliaged flame violets that were grown between the spaces of the bottom window boxes. The designer was clever to break this monotony of red and added some interest by squeezing in a bit of green flame violet between the red flame violets.

There were two non-living components in this tasteful display of live plants which were contributed by two round wreaths containing several pink roses. They did not look out of place but a plant-lover would certainly hope some live plants can take their place.

The shopfront located on the ground floor were also decorated with plants that were grown inside pots with roughly one uniform colour that was brown. This is a good move as different coloured pots can make a display look cluttered and distracting.

The owner used mostly tropical plants that are commonly available. The most prominent plant to the eye would be the stately specimen of frangipani, located on the lefthand side. To offset the height of the frangipani and to add different heights and layers to the planting, one can see two planter boxes containing Moses in the Cradle with their attractive purple leaf undersides and various other houseplants with interesting leaf shapes and textures.

Because it is still Chinese New Year, there were two pots of four seasons lime plants trained as standards that flanked both sides of a broad path leading to the shop from the road. The use of standards is also well thought of, as four seasons lime shrubs trained in other forms will actually mar the European feel and look of this display.

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Posted in Flowering plants, Gardens I visited, Tropical ornamentals

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