Spiders and flowers

Tiny spider playing hide-and-seek with me on the leaf of a bird's nest fern.
A more elegant version of the real thing. The blooms of the Giant Spider Lilies (Crinum Asiaticum) Indisputable beauty in numbers.
Lots more of these beauties are stored within these lily bulbs

Eugenia Javanica - Wax Apple, Jambu Air

Family: Myrtaceae

Origin: Andaman islands, Malaysia, Indonesia

The shocking pink colour of this flower made it look as if the flower had been dunked into a pot of paint. At first, I could not believe that this flower was real. But it was. Nature can be cool, too!

Flowers and trees

Not quite like cherry blossoms. The flower-laden Copperpod tree from a distance makes you wish that instead of a lone tree, there is a whole row of of these trees showing off their cheerful blooms. Is it any wonder that this tree is also known as Yellow Flame?

Simpoh Air or Dillenia suffruticosa. Flowers turned to seeds. A platter of desserts for the birds and dispersal to ensure that the plant lives on. Need a reading lamp? This is the first time such a fern is seen at eye level. Why? I think this particular fern that the National Parks Board has attached to the tembusu trees is the Platycerium ridleyi. Quite different from the usual bird's nest ferns and the staghorn ferns that are present in abundance on our trees. Did clouds land on the grass? I imagine they would look really lovely against the blue sky.Ceiba pentandra (Cotton tree, Kapok tree, white silk cotten tree). These fluffy bits from the seed pods of the Kapok tree were once used to stuff our pillows. The tree always reminds me of a ship mast decorated with leaves and seed pods. Family: Bombacaceae. From Tropical America and Tropical West Africa.

Flowers - look and you will find

Alpinia purpurata

Jungle Queen

Family: Zingiberaceae

Origin: South Pacific islands

Pseudocalymma alliaceum

Garlic Vine

Family: Bignoniaceae

Origin: Guatemala

This climber has made its way to the top of a roadside tree.

Spathodea campanulata

African Tulip tree

Family: Bignoniaceae

Origin: Tropical Africa

Calliandra emarginata

Powderpuff plant

Family:Leguminosae

Origin: Tropical America

Heliconia

Unknown to me

Inga edulis

Ice-cream bean tree

Family: Leguminosae

Origin: Tropical South America

Cratoxylum formosum

Pink Mempat

Family: hypericaceae

Origin: Indo-China, Malaysia, Philippines

Neomarica longifolia

Apostle Plant, Yellow walking iris

Family: iridaceae

Origin: Mexico to Brazil

Flowers and buds of the Saraca tree

Cochlospernum religiosum - Buttercup tree

Bright and cheerful flower to start the week ahead. This tree was full of vibrant yellow flowers in full bloom in the Eco-Garden of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Family: Cochlospermaceae
Origin: India, Burma, Thailand

Roof-top garden

Traveller's palms make walls less unfriendly.
What else do you see? Canna, plumeria and something on the window sills I cannot make out. What a lovely place to call home.

Andira inermis - Brown Heart

I have photographed these at West Coast Park and Bukit Batok Nature Reserve and have also seen them growing at the fringe of secondary forests. The trees in bloom stand out with the pyramid-shape clusters in pale pink.

Family: leguminosae

Origin: Mexico, West Indies, Tropical Central America, West Africa

Flowers

What caught my eye was the baby-blue colour of the bracts of this ginger flower. I wonder what the colour of the flowers are. If I venture a guess, it could be purple and yellow or shocking pink with green stripes on the petals. It is anyone's guess until the flower emerges. These flowers attracted my attention today. At first glance they seemed like flowers but actually the petals have fallen off and the fruits are forming. Looking amongst the leaves of the shrubs led me to the flowers. Unfortunately my camera battery gave up its ghost after this shot. These flowers remind me of Chinese dancers tracing elegant circles in the air with long, flowing silk ribbons to simulate the turbulent flow of water in a river or the rhythmic waves of the sea.

Wolfe's Vine - Petraeovitex wolfei

This climber in the Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG) is dripping flowers. I have photographed these flowers a few times but only found out the name of this plant from one of the 2005 SBG's newsletter.

Family: Verbenaceae