From afar, I noticed the developing inflorescence atop this majestic palm, that I was told was planted in the early 1920s.
Commonly known as the Talipot Palm (Family: Arecaceae / Palmae), this amazing palm from Sri Lanka and southern India has the largest inflorescence of any living plant and flowers and fruits only once in its lifetime. Upon pollination, the round fruits take about a year to mature and contain only a single seed. After the fruiting process ends, the palm dies soon after. Apparently, the flowering and fruiting processes are so energy demanding that the plant can only afford to do it once.
I remember the last time I heard about this remarkable phenomenon happening in the Singapore Botanic Gardens was in 2004-2005 although the fruiting wasn't as spectacular as documented perhaps because there were sufficient pollinators here. Well, we now have about a year to observe this palm and see how the flowers develop into fruits before it all dies down to ashes. This is definitely a must see event for the plant kingdom.
Today's weather - sunny
If there is anything that perks me up, it is having the opportunity to plant a bare area and see it come alive and transform into a beautiful landscape. This was precisely what happened at this toilet block area of the Fragile Forest.
I took over the Fragile Forest from a colleague recently and I wasn't the one who planted the palms behind the toilet block and on the slope. When I first came to the site, the bare earth in front of the toilet and below the existing Khaya senegalensis trees made me feel very uncomfortable that I had to plant up this area first.
The theme for this area is palms (Family: Palmae/Arecaceae), so I planted up a number of Kerridoxa elegans (common name: White Elephant Palm, King Thai Palm), which is a fan palm with large fronds with a silverish underside. That immediately gave the place a different look and shielded the dry fronds of the Borassodendron machadonis. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos before the planting to show the stark difference after the planting. This first set of photos captured the look soon after the palms were in.
I added a clump of Elaeocarpus grandiflorus (common name: Fairy Petticoat, Fringe Bells, Lily of the Valley Tree; Family: Elaeocarpaceae) with red flowers near the southern part of the site and a Elatiospermum tapos (common name: Kra, Perah, Tapos; Family: Euphorbiaceae) beside the car park.
Subsequently, I added clusters of Areca catechu (common name: Betel Nut Palm), a few Rhopaloblaste singaporensis (common name: Keringtin Palm), Areca vestiara (common name: Orange Crownshaft Palm, Orange Palm, Pinang Merah) which further added to my delighted mood over the week. I was so excited about the bountiful opportunities offered by the site and kept thinking and dreaming about it. I am planning to gradually add the following to this site:
- a collection of Aglaonema
- a collection of terrestrial and epiphytic orchids
- a collection of butterfly host and nectar plants
- a collection of pitcher plants
- Caryota mitis
- Cyrtostachys renda
- Euterpe oleracea
- Iguanura species
- Johannesteijsmannia species
- Licuala species e.g. L. mattanensis 'Mapu'
- Phoenicophorium borsigianum
Unfortunately, landscape works at the site have stalled for two weeks now and I hope we can start the remaining planting soon. Updates on the progress of landscaping will be provided gradually and as soon as I can.
These photos captured the Baobabs and diversity of succulents, Australia, Africa and South America gardens which feature the following amazingly beautiful plants:
- Anigozanthos (common name: Kangaroo Paw; Family: Haemodoraceae)
- Grevillea cultivar (Family: Poteaceae)
- Strelitzia reginae (Family: Strelitziaceae)
- Protea cynaroides (common name: King Protea; Family: Proteaceae)
- Rhododendron (Family: Ericaceae)
- Jubaea chilensis (common name: Chilean Wine Palm; Family: Arecaceae)
- variegated Weigela florida (Family: Caprifoliaceae)
