Crown flowers

Crown flowers are the greatest pleasers. I always see them blooming in the Hortpark near the Butterfly enclosure. These photos were taken with the Canon 400D.

Hortpark flowers

Morning Glory flowers that were pale and delicate against the morning sunlight.

Bauhinia galpinii flowers. The tree was in front of the Butterfly Enclosure in the Hortpark.
Crown flowers - two varieties, one creamy white with a tinge of green and the other tinged with purple.
I've never seen these flowers before.


And now for this gigantic flower the size of a party paper plate.
Clematis aristata looking like the sprinklings of stars from the sky.

Hortpark blooms

Zephyranthes

Argyreia nervosa - Elephant Creeper

Calotropis gigantea - Crown flower

Calotropis gigantea - Crown flower （牛角瓜 - niu2 jiao3 gua1)

I first saw these crown flower shrubs a few months ago. A surprise awaited me. More than the delightful flowers before me, there were fruits.
They start off looking like huge green marbles.

As they mature they change their shape.

When they ripen they burst open revealing seeds like this:
Maybe we can use these cotton-like fibres for stuffing pillows.
When the seeds are dispersed, this is what becomes of the fruit.

Calotropis gigantea - Crown flower （牛角瓜 - niu2 jiao3 gua1)

Flowers that I will vote as most unique amongst all that I have seen and photographed. These shrubs were thriving on Sentosa Island when I chanced upon them in the early part of this year. They are like jewels that have been handcrafted to perfection. It was the most thrilling find of my flower-watching life.

Common Name: Crown Flower, Giant Milkweed, Ivory Plant

Origin: India, Indonesia