A tree from the Verbenaceae Family, this is one of my all time favourites for 2 main reasons - the amazingly beautiful orange leaves and the fragrant strings of white flowers.Commonly known as the Fiddlewood, the synonyms include C. spinosum and C. subserratum. I first came across this tree in my junior college days when I used to go jogging at 6 am when the early morning breeze was so cooling. That was when I encountered this strange overpowering fragrance every time I ran along a certain stretch of the footpath. It was only later that I realized the smell came from this row of trees along the new block of flats.
The love was sealed there and then. When I started working, I learnt more about this tree and ever since then, I always try to use them in my landscaping projects. Some of the roads and parks include CTE near the Balestier Road / Whampoa stretch, Kampong Java Park, HortPark etc.
In recent times, I learnt to appreciate the beauty of a single specimen of these trees. The brilliantly beautiful tree would spot orange leaves from afar that remotely reminded me of autumn. Coupled with the strong sweet fragrance, the tree is simply hard to ignore. Anyway, a link is provided below:
