Today's weather - sunny
There are actually 3 species of young epiphytic ferns growing at the tree fork of this Rain Tree at Scape:
- Asplenium species (common name: Bird Nest Fern)
- Drynaria quercifolia (common name: Oak Leaf Fern)
- Pyrrosia piloselloides (common name: Dragon Scale Fern)
Interestingly, they all are green but have 3 different leaf shapes.
NB on 6 Jun 12: Our very knowledgeable subject expert from Florida, Harry, shared with me that the Drynaria and Pyrrosia exhibit leaf dimorphism, where their sterile and fertile fronds differ in leaf shape, much like those from Platycerium.
Recently, I was at the Singapore Botanic Garden's Botany Centre and was assaulted by an overpowering fragrance when I exited from one of the rooms.
So I retraced my steps and saw this majestic Calophyllum inophyllum in bloom. The tree was covered with clusters of flowers and the scent was radiating from them. This is the oldest specimen of this tree species that I have ever seen and I am glad that this tree was not affected by the redevelopment works years ago when they upgraded this part of the gardens.
What is interesting was also the epiphytic Ficus aurantiaca that was growing abundantly on the tree trunk and branches of the Calophyllum. The leaves of this Ficus is very different from the tree and it is always a delight to see the clumps of orange fruits hanging on the branches throughout the tree. A link on this Ficus is shown here:
http://www.florasingapura.com/Ficus_aurantiacea.php
