PETREA VOLUBILIS

It is not often that one gets to see the Sandpaper Vine/Purple Wreath in Singapore. Other than HortPark, the other place with an abundance of Petrea is the Indian Garden at Gardens by the Bay.

The leaves may be leathery with a sandpaper feel to it, but the bluish flowers are extraordinary since blue is an uncommon colour for flowers in the plant kingdom. When the inflorescences drooped over the trellis, as seen in the photos, they remind me of the Wisteria, which we cannot grow here in our tropical climate.

PETREA VOLUBILIS

This Sandpaper Vine flowered in HortPark's Car Park Garden recently. This photo was taken by me in a haste on 23 Feb 10 but up till yesterday, there were still a lot of flowers on the 2 trellises.

Blue flowers are really uncommon and what is interesting about this climber is that the there are 2 sets of petals, one shorter and darker than the other set of longer but paler petals. The interesting element of this plant does not stop here.

When the flowers dry up, they turn brown, hence the common name. When the dried brown flowers are shed or when you pluck them and throw them into the air, the dried flowers would spiral and spin all the way with its descent to the ground. Can you imagine the sight of having a palmful of it and releasing them from a higher ground? I can and it's beautiful.