Russelia equisetiformis - Firecracker plant

Family: Scrophulariaceae

Origin: Mexico

These delicate-looking flowers remind me of the tiny firecrackers that I used to play with as a kid during Chinese New Year and so I am just calling it the firecracker flowers for the time being. Red flowers are common and these yellow ones are not seen often. Colour aside, they reminded me of the thrill I had with the neighbourhood kids when we would be given strings of tiny firecrackers to play with.

Costus woodsonii - Scarlet spiral flag (Zingiberaceae)

I am not 100% sure about the identity of this plant but it looks like it is the costus woodsonii belonging to the ginger family. The photo was taken in the Ginger Garden of the Singapore Botanic Garden and I shall check on the label next time. Anyway, this is such a cheeky presentation that I thought that it would be good to tie up the image with what I have read recently in a book by Lin Yu Tang on "The Importance of Living" where he compares how the brains of a humorist and a theorist work. Interesting! I cannot agree more nor can I express it better. Some soul food to nourish our brains:

"Generally, a humourist keeps closer touch with facts, while theorist dwells more on ideas, and it is only when one is dealing with ideas in themselves that his thoughts get incredibly complex. The humourist, on the other hand, indulges in flashes of common sense or wit, which show up the contradictions of our ideas with reality with lightning speed, thus greatly simplifying matters. Constant contact with reality gives the humourist bounce, and also a lightness and subtley. All forms of prose, sham, learned nonsense, academic stupidity and social humbug are politely but effectively shown the door. Man becomes wise because man becomes subtle and witty. All is simple, all is clear. It is for this reason that I believe a sane and reasonable spirit, characterized by simplicity of living and thinking can be achieved only when there is a very much greater prevalence of humorous thinking."~ Lin Yu Tang in "The Importance of Living".

Sumbucus nigra - Black Elder

This flower may not thrive in Singapore because it is found in colder climates. There are as many as 25 species and they are found in North America, Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia. I photographed this shrub half-way up Genting Highlands in Malaysia. It was growing on a slope next to a pagoda on the grounds of a Chinese temple that was housed in a cave. What caught my eye amongst the thick foliage was the creamy white flowers that looked good enough as the centrepiece of a dinner table. This lovely bouquet was beyond my reach but not that of the zoom lens of my Olympus C-750. I never found out the name till now.

Epiphyllum oxypetallum - Queen of the night

Age shows in this photo as it was taken several years ago in my mother's garden. I used to call this flower the midnight flower because it only blooms at around 11pm and I will always remember the fragrance exuding from this lovely flower that the Chinese call 'Keng Hua". This plant is a kind of cactus and does not need soil to grow. I remember that some of my classmates from my childhood used the flat leaves as bookmarks.

http://www.flowersinsingapore.com/flowers6.htm

Sansevieria trifasciata "Laurentii"

These photos of this very hardy plant were taken about 5 years ago with a 2 megapixel Olympus camera. I wish I had a better camera because that was the one and only time that I have seen its flowers. These plants were lining the outer wall surrounding a condominium near my house and I was taking a walk with my son when these blooms caught my eye. Considering that the common names are so unflattering, the lovely, delicate flowers must have been given to make up for the harsh appearance of the plant. Thank god for flowers but pity they do not appear often enough.

Common name: Snake Plant, Mother-in-law's tongue

Family: Agavaceae

Origin: Africa

Murraya paniculata - mock orange

These flowers beckoned me from a distance and when I got closer to them, the fragrance was amazing. Makes me wish that all flowers are as fragrant as these.

Family: Rutaceae

Common name: Orange Jasmine, Mock Orange

Origin: Southeast Asia, China

Initially, I did not know for sure if these flowers were jamines or lime. The sweet fragrance made me more incline to think of them as jasmines. I finally found enough information on the internet and books that I have to confirm that this is a kind of jasmine. More interestingly, I discovered that this plant is one of those used in the cultivation of Bonsai trees because of their dense foliage.

Mussaenda erythrophylla - Queen Sirikit

I remember seeing these shrubs as a child always from a distance in a moving car and have wondered about these lovely flowers. I don't see them so often nowadays except on this particular occasion when I spotted a row of these shrubs in bloom below a block of HDB flats. Curious I went closer to examine them and found to my pleasant surprise that what I had always thought were petals of flowers were actually bracts and the flowers are small but delightful in shape and colour.

Family : Rubiaceae

Origin: Tropical Asia and Africa

Bat Lilies

This is a lifelong fascination with bat lilies. For as long as I get to see them I will never tire of using the camera to capture this unusual flower. The last time I put anything up on this blog and my website on Bat lilies was during the World Cup between 5 and 10 July. I have not been back to see these plants till today and I was pleasantly surprised to find that in the space of less than 2 months so many Bat Lily flowers have sprung up from these plants. There are 6 in this photo alone. Another one to the left of these plants that are not in the photo and two more on the other side of the path that are hidden from view by other plants. The flowers are at varying stages of development into fruits.

The photo below is a portrait of the freshest member of this Bat Lily community in Bukit Batok Nature Reserve. I also made a discovery that the Bat Lily is made up of bracts that are of two types - The showy bracts at the top and the whisker-like ones at the bottom - as well as an inflorescence comprising several flowers.Here's a close up of the flowers in the inflorescence:Each flower has 3 petals that are pulled back to reveal the stamens and style.

Here's a flower that looks more like a flower than a receptacle for seeds.As the flower matures this is what is looks like:

This time I noticed that there were holes in the leaves and bracts. Previously, the leaves were undamaged and the plant had always looked grand. I almost missed seeing these two bat lilies for they were hidden by some huge ferns. When I saw them, it brought back that joy of finding something wonderful when you least expect it.

Gloriosa superba - Flame Lily （(嘉兰 - jia lan2)

While trying to get some people into position for a photo, I suddenly noticed the flowers of this climbing plant at the side. I remember seeing pictures of them but it was the first time I saw the real flowers. I find the appearance of this flower most unusual. The flower looks like it could take off vertically like a helicopter should the stamens at the base start to rotate.

Common name: Flame lily, Glory Lily

Origin: Tropical Africa and Asia

Golden Penda

This is common and there is plenty of information on this flower on the net.

Xanthostemon chrysanthus (Golden Penda)

This flower and the fruits are similar to the Golden Penda. I searched the internet for images of this flower using "Xanthostemon" and "penda" as the key words but could not find any. The closest that I got was a flower called "Crimson penda" but there were no pictures.
I came across images of a flower from New Zealand that looks similar but I cannot be sure. It is called metrosideros umbellatus or Southern Rata.