Know Your Dillenia_dubo

KNOW YOUR DILLENIA – UNO Following is the introduction to the following selection of plants commonly encountered when trekking in Singapore.








ACACIA Acacia Auriculiformis AFRICAN TULIP Spathodea campunalata ALBIZZIA FALCATARIA Leguminosae BIRD’S NEST FERN Asplenium Nidus CURRY LEAF TREE Murraya Koenigil FIG Ficus Spp. FISHTAIL PALM Caryota Mitis

ACACIA / WATTLE (Acacia Auriculiformis) This fast growing tree is commonly found everywhere, including lawns, abandoned area, wastelands and secondary forests of Singapore. It was first introduced as an ornamental from Thursday Island in the Torres Straits, Australia. It is a common tree with fissured bark, growing up to 60 feet in height. This tree has no leaves except when it is a seedling. When the seedling first sprouts, it has twice pinnate leaves. Subsequent leaves have enlarged leaf stalks with a little bit of true leaves and by the fifth "leaflet", it's all leaf stalk and no leaf! These flattened leaf stalks called phyllodes, are green and function as leaves. These are an adaptation to hot climates and droughts. The tree flowers quickly, within 1-2 years. The tiny yellow flowers are fragrant and are gathered in clusters. Pods when ripe, turn from yellow to brown and curl up. Black seeds are hung on short curled orange stalks when the pod splits open. Birds find these seeds highly attractive and eat them. Thus the plant is very quickly dispersed. Aborigines of Australia have traditionally harvested the seeds of some acacia species as food. These are ground into flour and eaten as a paste or baked into a cake. The seeds can contain 25% more protein than common cereals like rice or wheat, and their hard seed coats mean acacia seeds also store well for long periods. Acacias were purposely introduced and planted in Southeast Asia and Oceania as a source of firewood and good quality charcoal (does not smoke), as well as timber for furniture and pulp for making paper (acacia produces high yields of pulp and produces strong paper). The tannin produced from the tree is of a good quality, but tends to redden with exposure to sunlight. The tree was also introduced as an ornamental shade tree, but in Singapore, it is no longer grown as a wayside tree due to the large amount of litter of "leaves", flowers and fruits that the tree produces. In India, the tree was cultivated to feed the lac insect, which produces a resinous secretion that is harvested to produce lacquer. The Aborigines of Australia uses a decoction of the root to treat aches and pains and sore eyes; an infusion of the bark to treat rheumatism. Acacia has the potential to protect poor soils from erosion and revive their mineral content. Acacia can grow on poor soils including clay, limestone and unstable sand dunes, even soil tainted with uranium wastes. It is also able to survive fire, dry spells and seasonally waterlogged soil. (In fact, the seeds germinate better when placed in hot ashes!). The tree also contains nitrogen fixing bacteria which can help rejuvenate these poor soils. The tree prevents soil erosion because of their extensive and dense roots and heavy leaf litter. But the seedlings don't grow well in the shade and in competition with weeds, so for deliberate planting, the seedlings have to be raised elsewhere first. Acacias recover wastelands, returning nutrients to poor soils and providing shade for other plants to take hold. They do not produce a lot of pollen or nectar as food, but their plentiful seed supply is a valuable food source for animals (mainly birds and also small mammals), particularly in dry places. Various insects eat their leaves and wood, and sugar gliders and squirrels may eat their sap. The trees also provide shelter for animals; as well as epiphytic plants.

AFRICAN TULIP TREE (Spathodea Campanulata) The African Tulip Tree was introduced to Singapore in the 1910's from Uganda, Africa. It was brought into Singapore to be planted as roadside trees because of its colorful red flowers, and its ability to grow very rapidly, up to 6 ft a year. Unfortunately, growing quickly also means that the wood tends to be soft and brittle and the branches are likely to break in a strong wind. In addition, its shallow roots do not make this tree suitable for roadside planting. Unfortunately, by the time this was realized, the African Tulip has adapted so well to Singapore’s climate that it can now be found growing wild all over Singapore. The flower buds form a ball-shaped cluster. Each brown banana-shaped flower bud is filled with water, forming a natural water pistol when squeezed. The outer buds bloom first before the inner ones. The tree blooms all year round and the flower lasts about 3 days. When the pod splits, it releases masses of winged seeds, a reason why it is among the first large trees to colonize wastelands. The split ripe pods has a woody, boat-shaped form and children use them in boat races, by placing the opened pods in a fast flowing drain. The seeds are edible. The soft, white timber is used in paper making. In West Africa, their homeland, the wood is used to make drums and blacksmith's bellows. The bark, flowers and leaves are used in traditional medicine in Western Africa.

ALBIZZIA FALCATARIA (Leguminosae) This tree was first introduced into the Botanic Gardens from Java around 1871. Presently, it can be found scattered all over Singapore; by the roadside and in neglected areas. It is a fast growing tree reaching a height of 50m. The crown is wide spreading and umbrella shaped. Because of this characteristic, it was used as a shade tree, soon to become a favourite shade for coffee plants. However, because of its fast growth, the wood tends to be soft and branches regularly get snapped off during storms. Its shallow roots also make it susceptible to uprooting during tropical storms. The flowers are creamy white, faintly fragrant and in heads. The fruits are flattened pods; green becoming brown and splitting to disperse the flattened, hard seeds inside. The soft wood can be used for matches and possibly for paper when used with other wood of a tougher quality of thick fibres. In addition, the soft wood has been used for pulp, particle board, packing cases, boxes, chopsticks, veneer and light furniture and sometimes as fuelwood.

BIRD’S NEST FERN (Asplenium Nidus) One of the most common epiphyte in the jungles of the tropics, its fronds may grow to 1.5 m long and it’s rhizome or stem is short and scaly. Roots hanging from the rhizome collect moisture from rain and humid air. There is a central nest like depression that collects dead leaves from other trees and when these dead material rot, they form a kind of sponge which helps absorb and retain water. The leaves have a short stalk and a light green leathery smooth, sometimes wavy edged, blade with a prominent, almost black mid-rib. The sporangia, sacs which produce spores for reproduction are found in parallel rows, lying at about a 45 degrees angle to the mid-rib. Aboriginal tribe in Malaysia has used a decoction of the fern to ease labor pain at childbirth while Malays have used the leaves to obtain a lotion to treat fever. Do you know…the langsuyur is a Malay vampire generated by the malevolence of a woman dying in childbirth. It was believed that the vampire seeks out pregnant women for their blood or the blood of a newborn infant. It was supposed to take the form of a beautiful maiden with long hair that rustles as she flies in the dark to alight in a tall tree or in the nest of the Staghorn Fern or Birds Nest fern.

CURRY LEAF TREE / KARUVAPILAI (Murraya Koenigil) This is a small evergreen shrub or tree with hard copper colored wood grain. It has leaves with pinnate, with 15-19 leaflets and contain essential oils When braised, the leaves emit a distinctive smell like that of anise. It is a native of India. The leaves are widely used as a flavoring in Indian curries, especially fish curries, adding a distinctive flavor to the dish. The roots, barks as well as leaves can be used both internally and externally as a medicine. This tree is very commonly spotted in Singapore’s secondary forest. The young leaves are sometimes grinded into a paste and consumed as a Ulam by the Malays.

FIG (Ficus sp.) Any wayside tree that is old enough to have ferns or orchids growing on it’s branches will probably also be host to at least one species of fig. In fact, there are more than 900 species of fig in the tropics, ranging from small shrubs and climbers to giant forest trees. Despite the varieties, they all share a unique and complex method of pollination. The fig fruit is in fact a hollow swollen stem which bears hundreds of tiny flowers on it’s inside surface. These flowers are pollinated by tiny wasps which enter through an opening, protected by a series of overlapping scales, at the top of the fig. These wasps not only pollinate the flowers, but also lay eggs in some of them. The relationship between fig plants and wasps is obligate: the fig flowers can only be pollinated by a particular species of wasps and that species of wasps can only develop in that species of fig. The figs that grow on wayside trees are mostly stranglers. They start life as an epiphyte in the branches of trees, then sends roots down the trunk to the ground. Eventually, the trunk of the host tree becomes enveloped in fig roots and the crown must compete with the ever expanding branches of the fig trees. In the end, the host tree dies leaving a free standing fig tree. The most common strangler in Singapore is the Waringin or Ficus Benjamina. It is recognized by it’s fine leaved crown with drooping branches and the rarity or absence of hanging aerial roots. The thin small leaves have a long tip. This species bears up to five crops of small figs a year. After the newly emerged wasps have departed and the seeds are fully developed, the figs ripened to a dark purplish colour. The waringin is probably Singapore’s premier bird tree: a large fruiting waringin is heard before it is seen. It attracts large flocks of green pigeons as well as bulbuls, starlings, orioles and other frugivores. At night, the birds are replaced by fruit bats. Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, entered the state of nirvana ‘ bodhi’ in the shade of a fig tree in Maghada. This species of fig, the pipal, is known as the bodhi tree or tree of enlightenment; in Latin, Ficus Religiosa. Planted wherever there are temples or wayside resting places, it is easy to recognize because of its heart shaped leaves with their distinctively elongated drip tip. It is a tree native to central and eastern India, but since it has the ability to grow either on its own trunk or as a strangling fig, it has spread widely throughout South East Asia. It is also commonly found even on the cornices and drains of city buildings. When grown as a planted tree, the trunk is about 4 to 6 meter high, breaking up into a many branched and rather untidy crown. The Malayan Banyan (Ficus Retusa or Ficus Microcarpa.) natural habitats are the river banks and swampy flood plains which just lie inland of the mangrove, and the exposed rocky coast. It is common in Singapore where it is often the sole survivor of the original tree flora on the banks of the Singapore River. It is also common on old buildings, where its numerous aerial roots hang down in tasseled festoons and sometimes develop into thick prop roots that help support the massive branches. The tree looks like the Benjamin Fig but the twigs are thicker and do not droop, the leaves lack drip tips and the small fruit do not pass through an orange stage and are purplish black when ripen. The aerial roots are used by the Chinese as medicine. In India, the leaves and roots are used as a medicine to cure wounds and bruises, the bark and leaves for headache, and the juice of the leaves for colic when applied externally, and for liver disease when taken internally.The name Banyan was given by Europeans in the Persian Gulf to a particular tree of this species under which Banias or members of the Indian merchant class used to congregate for worship and business.

FISHTAIL PALM (Caryota Mitis) A native of this region and often found in secondary jungles, the fishtail palm is the only palm whose leaves are subdivided twice giving it a distinctive shape of a fishtail. It also has a unique way of flowering: the first flowering mop-like cluster emerges from the top of a mature palm, subsequent clusters emerge below and so on. When the cluster reaches the ground, the palm dies. The palm also reproduces from numerous suckers growing from the base. The flowers appear in threes, one female flower in between two male ones. Fruits are roundish which turn purplish when they ripen. The fruit and the whole plant causes itching when handled because of the presence of minute needle-like crystals. The fruit wall is poisonous but the seeds are edible. The fluff scraped off young leaves and sheaths can be used as tinder or as wadding for blowpipes darts. Durian sellers in Malaysia often lined their booths with it’s leaves. It has been reported that some natives make use of the leaf stalks of one species of fishtail palm to make arrows, so that the needles can cause irritation to the wounds inflicted by the arrow. In India, an edible starch is extracted from the stem, and the palm heart eaten The young shoot or cabbage can be eaten after the bitter taste is removed by boiling. In India, the leaves are used for thatching or woven into household items, the fibres from the leaf sheath are made into rope, and seeds made into beads. Like other palms, it is also tapped for sap which is made into palm sugar or fermented to make toddy. .