Barringtonia asiatica - Putat Laut

This flower is one of the loveliest flowers I have ever seen in the parks of Singapore. I first saw these flowers at Labrador Park along the sea front. I remember that they were high up on the branches and were difficult to photograph.

Barringtonia asiatica
Family Name: Lecythidaceae
Common Name : Beach Barringtonia, Fish-Killer Tree, Sea Poison tree, Putat Laut, Sea Putat,
Origin : Madagascar to the East Pacific

Recently, I saw a small tree in West Coast Park with a number of flowers that were within easy reach.

There were also many flowers on the grass as they bloom in the night and fall to the ground in the morning. I was lucky to find that most of them were still complete and not scattered about as would have been the case if the tree were taller like those at Labrador Park.

Soon, fruits that look like lanterns will develop and I hope to be able to photograph them and post the pictures here.

Platycerium coronarium (Disc Staghorn Fern)

When I was photographing a few of these ferns in Kent Ridge Park, against the sunlight, I thought what lovely lampshades they would make. These ferns were 'planted' by the National Parks Board as embellishments to the bare trunks and on closer observation, I found that some of the younger ones have been secured to the tree with nylon ropes. I imagine hundreds of fireflies inside each 'lampshade' at night and all along the canopy boardwalk, fairies with glittering tiaras and magic wands dance to the rhythm of crickets and cicadas and the melody of the breeze.

Taman Negara Flora

Taman Negara flora with botanical names:

Zingiber spectabile (Black Ginger)

Selaginella willdenowii(Blue Club Moss)

More photos on Taman Negara>>>>http://flowersinsingapore.com/Albums/myphotos.html

Fragrant Ginger Flower

My favourite Kenny Roger's song is "Buy me a Rose". On Sunday, I received a surprise call from a good friend who asked if she could come over and give me some lovely ginger flowers that she had bought for me as they reminded her of the ginger flower photos on my website. I was delighted of course and waited in anticipation of meeting her that afternoon.

When she entered the house, I caught a sweet waft of the soft frangrance coming from the delicate peach flowers and thought of babies newly bathed and powdered as I cradled the the bouquet she gave me.

At this very moment as I am typing this, it is so coincidental that the Kenny Roger's song is playing on the radio... "Buy me a rose, call me from work, open a door for me what would it hurt, show me you love me by the look in your eye, these are the little things I need the most in my life..."

In life, it need not always have to be roses and they do not need to come only from a boy friend or a husband. Friendship is not about constant devotion and attention. It is about keeping a friend in the heart such that regardless of time and distance a friend never disappears from one's mind. When friends do "little things" that are as simple as just dropping by for a cup of coffee after a long absence from our lives, we should cherish those precious moments because they did not happen by plan or design but by feelings, hunch, chance, fate, destiny or just the need to say hello to a particular person at that point in time.

Footnote:

Over the green bean soup that my friend cooked and shared with me, we surfed the internet to learn more about this ginger flower. We found two sites that had photos resembling the flowers she gave me. The names given were: Hedychium 'Dr. Moy' (Hardy Speckled Ginger Lily) and the other one was Peach Butterfly Ginger. Though the flowers look like the "Dr Moy", the leaves were not speckled. It could also be the Peach Butterfly Ginger but I really could not be sure. Anyway, I am sure that this ginger plant belongs to the same family as the other two based on overall appearance.

Upper Seletar Reservoir

I came back from my jungle retreat
That I had thought was dark and deep
that I thought was filled with plants and trees
animals and insects never seen

I thought there was a river
winding through thick vegetation
I imagined hints of reptiles
eyes gleaming at the water's edge

Now I am back home
and when I climbed a tower
to test my stamina
and be closer to the clouds

I saw beautiful tree tops and greenery
the jungle in my mind
was right here at home
all the time.

Look-out tower at Seletar Reservoir Park.

Tall, shady trees all around.

A bird's eye view of the lush greenery at the top of the tower.

Not a river but enough water to soothe the eye.

Trees as far as the eye can see - is this really Singapore?

Retreat

Going into deep jungle for a few days

to see what wilderness is really like.

Bat Lily back again

This is the fourth time over the past few weeks that I am visiting this flower in Bukit Batok Nature Park. I was apprehensive about going to the park because of the heavy showers in the early hours of the morning and the clouds above looked like they still had unfinished business to do. But I took a chance and was I ever so glad I did and this photo is the proof. There are more>>>> on my website. Accessing this page needs a fast internet connection as there are many pictures there.

Grass - Interlude

I am amazed that the humble grass that I sat on is capable of producing such a complicated looking flower. Thanks to the advancements in digital photography, I am able to admire it so closely, not a possibility when I was a kid unless I went around with a giant magnifying glass.

Bat Lily - the splendour of the bloom

The last time I saw this flower was last Thursday when it was only half opened. Today I witnessed the bloom in all its splendour and beauty at its peak. I wish I could bring this plant into a studio and take lovely pictures of this model of natural beauty. I wish to have photos that would make it look like the flower was dancing and swirling before my lens. I was distracted by the people walking by nonchalantly and conscious that I was not doing what was normal in the park i.e. walking, jogging or doing Tai Chi or Zhi Gong. I knew that my camera though lauded as the masterpiece in digital photography (Amateur Category) would not be able to do justice to this wonderful work of nature but I just had to make do with what I have to record the best performance of this flower to date. I could see a sign of abuse already in the broken 'whisker' and a missing capsule of seeds. I fear that if I lingered too long, I might draw too much attention and that curiosity might invite more abuse of the flower. So I was careful to pretend to look elsewhere when I sensed that there were people coming up the path. Some kind of paranoia perhaps but I have watched this flower from infancy to the state it was today. I hope it will enjoy a few more days of glorious health before fading away.

Thumbnail photos on my website: http://flowersinsingapore.com

Spider Lilies

Botanical name: Hymenocallis sp.

Family: Amaryllidaceae

Native: South East Asia

These lilies are frequently grown as part of the landscaping efforts of our parks and gardens.

The following photos are of Giant Spider Lilies (Crinum Asiaticum) found in the park at MacRitchie Reservoir behind the cafe that overlooks the reservoir.

Stalk of heavily laden bulbs.

They are not called giants for nothing.