TREES

a flowering Delonix

This is a showcase of 3 trees.

I was just amazed that the Delonix regia continued its flowering even though there weren't many leaves.

Terminalia

Diospyros malabarica

NATIVE PLANTS

Today's weather - sunny

The Ixora congesta has beautiful umbels of orange flowers with red bases. Along the Fragile Forest trail, I saw clusters of the weed Ageratum conyzoides again. The Diospyros areolata (Common Name: Kayu Arang; Family: Ebenaceae) was flushing, not blushing, with new pinkish leaves and it was apparent even from afar.

HORTPARK 3

Unlike the two earlier posts on HortPark, this one focuses more on pests and diseases and nutrient deficiency symptoms.

There is a wide range of scale insects shown here. Some even look like barnacles on the stems and branches of the plants. The blackish soot-like layer on the leaves is the sooty mould, brought about by the scale insects. Usually, sucking insects like scales, aphids, mealy bugs secrete a honey dew-like substance that attracts ants. The ants harvest the substance and in turn farm these insects and protect them from other predators.


There was also a grasshopper, spotted on the leaf of a Canna plant, which typically chews the leaves causing extensive damages.


The variegated and non-variegated Manihot esculenta (common name: Tapioca) is also a nest bed of mealy bugs.


The leaves of the Diospyros malabarica tree were also badly damaged by the Bagworms.


The 3 stages of the Ladybird were also captured by the camera. Who would have thought that their larval stages look entirely different from the winged insect?


The reddish edge of the leaves of this particular Tristaniopsis whiteana tree was showing symptoms of possibly phosphorus deficiency.


Hispid beetles were found on the badly damaged fronds of the Coconut Palm.


Finally, this alien like moth caterpillar, which I captured before, was busy eating the leaves of the Ardisia elliptica.

DIOSPYROS MALABARICA

I planted these few trees recently and have never seen its flowers or fruit, not even in HortPark but this one recently fruited. Wow, what is or was the trigger?

DIOSPYROS MALABARICA & COSTUS

I am posting photos of the Diospyros malabarica again because I am sold on the beauty of this tree.

As for the unknown Costus from the Costaceae Family, I bought it from a local supplier who got it from Thailand. But this species or cultivar is rather sensitive, difficult to grow and I still do not know its preference because most of the time the leaves appear slightly burnt with brown edges. However, the white flowers subtended by the red bracts was never encountered by me before this, so to me it is still unique.