There are 3 species of native butterflies highlighted in this post. I have not talked or posted about them for a long time now.
The first is the Plain Tiger on the flower of the Tabernaemontana. The second is the interesting Tawny Coster that is often found in wastelands. We do have the weedy climber host plant Passiflora foetida found in certain parts of the garden and the Bidens alba provides the nectar for its butterflies. Finally, the caterpillars of the Mottled Emigrant are abundantly found on the host plant Senna alata planted at several spots in the garden.
This is a most unusual Bauhinia with thin petals and a big central upper lip. It appears like a standing person in dance.
This is an unusual Jacaranda obtusifolia ssp. rhombifolia with purple flowers. Now I have it planted at the Fruits and Flowers garden too. Hopefully, this hot weather would always trigger the onset of its flowering.
The second is a plant I have never seen before. It qualifies as a first for me. Known as Samyda pubescens (Family: Flacourtiaceace), it has interesting pink flowers that bloom along the topside of the branches. The leaves are velvety giving it the specific epithet "pubescens".
The final two species are the dwarf Arundina graminifolia and the Clerodendron calamitosum which were flowering so prettily recently. What a wonderful day!
These are the fruits of the Bombax ceiba I picked up in Taiwan. Rows and rows of these yellow- and orange-flowered trees were flowering brilliantly along the roads and expressways. There is only one word to describe it - marvellous!
How often do we get confused about when to use the noun fish or fishes?
According to the dictionaries, the plural of fish can either be "fish" or "fishes", depending on the context that it is used. The plural "fish" is to be used when there are many individuals of the same species. The plural term "fishes" shall be used when there are more than one species of fish, regardless of the number of individuals of each species.
Some examples are shown below:
Example 1: 4 individual Tuna fish
A few of us shared 4 Tuna fish for the meal.
Example 2: 1 Grouper, 2 Salmons, 3 Sardines
There were a lot of fishes available for the buffet spread or there were 3 species of fishes available for the buffet spread.
Interesting?
Just yesterday as I was walking from the Visitor's Centre drop-off bay to the Satay by the Bay, I came across this short avenue of trees that caught my attention. Clusters of breathtakingly beautiful yellow flowers adorn the almost leafless trees.
The trees looked familiar and reminded me of the Tabebuia chrysotricha (Family: Bignoniaceae), which is the National Tree of Brazil, I have seen before although it was not as impressive in terms of its stature and flowering. With excitement, I was certain that this is the Tabebuia chrysantha (chrysantha means golden flower in greek), which on the other hand is the National Tree of Venezuela, although both share the same Common Name (Golden Trumpet Tree). Compared to T. chrysotricha, the leaves of the T. chrysantha are larger and the flowers are in larger clusters. Another interesting feature is the slightly bronzy leaves, floral buds and long dehiscent capsules, which bear wind dispersed winged seeds, are covered with fine hairs.
Another similar looking tree with silverish leaves and golden flowers is T. argentea (Common Name: Silver Trumpet Tree, Carribean Trumpet Tree).
I hope I will be lucky enough to see the ground littered with its fallen yellow flowers to form a beautiful carpet.
This week, I caught the above sequel starring Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson, Lee Byung-hun, Adrianne Palicki, D.J. Cotrona etc.
Channing had only a brief role as Duke, the leader of the elite G.I. Joes team, and was killed off early in the movie. Dwayne who played Roadblock, took over the leadership role as one of three Joes who survived a surprise attack on them. He enlisted the help of General Joseph Colton, acted by Bruce, with the two other Joes (Lady Jaye and Flint) and Snake Eyes etc to investigate the matter to avenge the deaths of their teammates.
Lee Byung-hun had a meaty role again as the bad ninja Storm Shadow who initially with the bad guys Firefly, Cobra Commander and Zandar, joined forces with Roadblock and team to redeem himself from the accusation of assassinating his uncle the hard master. He did asians proud by reprising his role as a formidable opponent from the dark side.
I didn't like it as much as the original movie and the best part for me were the ninja fighting scenes on the cliff-faces. The opposing ninjas of two, Snake Eyes and Jinx, were dueling against many red suit ninjas and were swinging from cliff to cliff, much like spiderman.
On a side note, I noticed square-jawed D.J. Cotrona, who reminded me of a younger Tom Cruise, much like I noticed Tom Hardy in the 2010 movie "Inception" before he was cast as Bane in the 2012 "The Dark Knight Rises". If I am a talent scout, I would definitely say he has the potential to be a bigger star. Interestingly, I found out that he was cast as Superman in Warner Bros. movie "Justice League: Mortal" but due to the writers' strike in 2007-2008, the film was never made. What a pity! However, if he has it and his performance made producers and directors notice him, then we would surely see more of his films coming our way sometime.
