Plants in the park

Plants  

Pong Pong tree

The Yellow-eyed pong pong tree is a commonly planted tree in our parks and roadsides and is also sometimes seen growing wild on our shores. But the beautiful Pink-eyed pong pong tree is rare and only sometimes seen on our shores and coastal forests. The tree  grow up to 15m tall, but in Singapore usually shorter. Bark fissured, flaky, grey to brown with lenticels. The leaves (12-30cm long) oval, dark green and glossy, held in dense spirals at the tips of the twigs. Flowers are (about 5cm) white appearing at the tips of the twigs. It produces a white sap. The fruits are (5-7cm) spherical or ovoid, with 1-2 seeds. First green then pink, rosy purple and finally black. The fruits are dispersed by water. When they wash up, often only the fibrous husk is left, around a hard stone. According to Burkill, only the seeds are poisonous and no other part of the plant is toxic. In the Philippines, the seeds were used as a fish poison in small streams. The wood produces a fine charcoal that was used for gunpowder by the Thais. Oil pressed from the seeds were used in lamps but produces an irritating smoke. Medicinal uses for the oil include treating itches, rheumatism, the common cold and as hair oil that doubled up as insect repellent. According to Corners, the fruits are poisonous and native medicinal uses are made of the bark, leaves and oil extracted from the seeds. According to Tomlinson, some native societies use the fruits as a means of committing suicide. According to Wee, the tree contains cerberin or cerberoside. According to Giesen, cerberin is similar in structure to digoxin, found in foxglove, which kills by blocking calcium ion channels in heart muscles and disrupting the heartbeat. More ominiously, it is also suspected of being used in an increasing number of murder cases. The bark, sap and leaves are used as a purgative, and for inducing abortion.

Lichens  are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic association of a fungus (the mycobiont) with a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont), usually either a green alga (commonly Trebouxia) or cyanobacterium (commonly Nostoc). The morphology, physiology and biochemistry of lichens are very different from those of the isolated fungus and alga in culture. Lichens occur in some of the most extreme environments on Earth—arctic tundra, hot deserts, rocky coasts, and toxic slag heaps. However, they are also abundant as epiphytes on leaves and branches in rain forests and temperate woodland, on bare rock, including walls and gravestones, and on exposed soil surfaces (e.g., Collema) in otherwise mesic habitats. Lichens are widespread and may be long-lived; however, many are also vulnerable to environmental disturbance, and may be useful to scientists in assessing the effects of air pollution, ozone depletion, and metal contamination. Lichens have also been used in making dyes and perfumes, as well as in traditional medicines.

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem (making them vascular plants). They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants. Ferns reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers.

By far the largest group of ferns are the leptosporangiate ferns, but ferns as defined here (also called monilophytes) include horsetails, whisk ferns, marattioid ferns, and ophioglossoid ferns. The term pteridophyte also refers to ferns (and possibly other seedless vascular plants; see classification section below). A pteridologist is a specialist in the study of ferns and lycophytes.Ferns first appear in the fossil record 360 million years ago in the Carboniferous but many of the current families and species did not appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the late Cretaceous (after flowering plants came to dominate many environments).Ferns are not of major economic importance, but some are grown or gathered for food, as ornamental plants, or for remediating contaminated soils. Some are significant weeds. They also feature in mythology, medicine, and art

Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion, from French dent-de-lion, meaning lion's tooth) is given to members of the genus, and like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red.
Almost all modern edible parthenocarpic bananas come from the two wild species Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific  names of bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana or hybrids Musa acuminata × balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific names Musa sapientum and Musa paradisiaca are no longer used.
Banana is also used to describe Enset and Fe'i bananas, neither of which belong to the Musa genus. Enset bananas belong to the genus Ensete while the taxonomy of Fe'i-type cultivars is uncertain.
In popular culture and commerce, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet "dessert" bananas. By contrast, Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called plantains or "cooking bananas." The distinction is purely arbitrary and the terms 'plantain' and 'banana' are sometimes interchangeable depending on their usage.
They are native to tropical South and Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics They are grown in at least 107 countries. primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make fiber, banana wine and as ornamental plants.

Bougainvillea  is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina (Chubut Province). Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus. The plant was classified by Europeans in Brazil in 1768, by Philibert Commerçon, a French botanist accompanying French Navy admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville during his voyage of circumnavigation.
They are thorny, woody vines growing anywhere from 1-12 meters tall, scrambling over other plants with their spiky thorns. The thorns are tipped with a black, waxy substance. They are evergreen where rainfall occurs all year, or deciduous if there is a dry season. The leaves are alternate, simple ovate-acuminate, 4-13 cm long and 2-6 cm broad. The actual flower of the plant is small and generally white, but each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colors associated with the plant, including pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow. Bougainvillea glabra is sometimes referred to as "paper flower" because the bracts are thin and papery. The fruit is a narrow five-lobed achene



Molds are fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. Molds are considered to be microbes but microscopic fungi that grow as single cells are called yeasts. A connected network of these tubular branching hyphae has multiple, genetically identical nuclei and is considered a single organism, referred to as a colony.Molds do not form a specific taxonomic or phylogenetic grouping, but can be found in the divisions Zygomycota, Deuteromycota and Ascomycota. Some molds cause disease or food spoilage, others play an important role in biodegradation or in the production of various foods, beverages, antibiotics and enzymes.



The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae (palm family). It is the only accepted species in the genus Coco. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word. Early Spanish explorers called coconuts/cocos nucifera "coco" (meaning "monkey face").
Found across much of the tropics, the coconut is known for its great versatility as seen in the many domestic, commercial, and industrial uses of its different parts. Coconuts are part of the daily diet of many people. Its endosperm is known as the edible "flesh" of the coconut; when dried it is called copra. The oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking and frying; coconut oil is also widely used in soaps and cosmetics. The clear liquid coconut water within is a refreshing drink and can be processed to create alcohol. The husks and leaves can be used as material to make a variety of products for furnishing and decorating. It also has cultural and religious significance in many societies that use it.

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S. The word is used in at least three senses:  most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove forest biome, mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are also used, to refer to all trees and large shrubs in the mangal, and narrowly to refer to the mangrove family of plants, the Rhizophoraceae, or even more specifically just to mangrove trees of the genus Rhizophora.The mangrove biome, or mangel, is a distinct saline woodland or shrubland habitat characterized by a depositional coastal environments, where fine sediments (often with high organic content) collect in areas protected from high-energy wave action. Mangroves dominate three quarters of tropical coastlines. The saline conditions tolerated by various mangrove species range from brackish water, through pure seawater (30 to 40 ppt), to water concentrated by evaporation to over twice the salinity of ocean seawater (up to 90 ppt)

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family (Zingiberaceae). Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal.Ginger cultivation began in South Asia and has since spread to East Africa and the Caribbean. It is sometimes called root ginger to distinguish it from other things that share the name ginger.

Angsana trees (Pterocarpus indicus), introduced into Singapore in the early 19th century, belong to the family Leguminosae (Papilonaceae). A common wayside tree that can grow well within a short period of time and with a wide-spreading crown that provides shade, it was only extensively and systematically Pl the Angsana is a large deciduous tree of up to 30 to 40 m tall and 2 m in diameter. It has a dense, wide spreading, dome-shaped crown with drooping lower branches. The trunk is buttressed and the bark is smooth and grey-brown, becoming scaly and fissured with age. When cut or slashed, dark red resin oozes out. The wood varies in colour from light yellow to golden brown to reddish brown, and has a camphor or cedar scent. Angsana wood is said to be the best fine-furniture wood in Malaysia, and is used for furniture making, cabinets, decorative veneers, interior trimming and novelty items. The wood can also produce red dye. Various parts of the tree, including the dark red latex, are used in native medicine.However, it is for its shade and beauty that the Angsana has been used extensively, planted along roads and in parks in Singapore. When fully grown, its majestic crown, with large slender branches drooping down to the ground, is a sight to behold. The tree is quick growing, easily transplanted with high survival rates. It provides much needed shade within the shortest possible time and is used as a shade tree for other crops.

Hibiscus (  /hɨˈbɪskəs/ or /haɪˈbɪskəs/ is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae It is quite large, containing several hundred species that are native to warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species are often noted for their showy flowers and are commonly known as hibiscus, sorrel, and flor de Jamaica, or less widely known as rosemallow. The genus includes both annual and perennial herbaceous plants, as well as woody shrubs and small trees. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἱβίσκος (hibískos), which was the name Pedanius Dioscorides (ca. 40-90) gave to Althaea officinalis.

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus, in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.

A fungus (pronounced /ˈfʌŋɡəs/; pl. fungior funguses is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria. One major difference is that fungal cells have cell walls that contain chitin, unlike the cell walls of plants, which contain cellulose. These and other differences show that the fungi form a single group of related organisms, named the Eumycota (true fungi or Eumycetes), that share a common ancestor (a monophyletic group). This fungal group is distinct from the structurally similar myxomycetes (slime molds) and oomycetes (water molds). The discipline of biology devoted to the study of fungi is known as mycology, which is often regarded as a branch of botany, even though genetic studies have shown that fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.

Bamboo is a group of perennal evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family.In bamboo, the internodal regions of the stem are hollow and the vascular bundles in the cross section are scattered throughout the stem instead of in a cylindrical arrangement. The dicotyledonous woody xylem is also absent. The absence of secondary growth wood causes the stems of monocots, even of palms and large bamboos, to be columnar rather than tapering. Bamboos are some of the fastest growing plants in the world, as some species are capable of growing 100 cm (39 in.) or more per day due to a unique rhizome-dependent system. However, the growth rate is partially dependent on local soil and climatic conditions.

Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product.

Plumeria (common name Frangipani) is a genus of flowering plants of the family that includes Dogbane: the Apocynaceae. It contains 7-8 species of mainly deciduous shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Brazil, but have been spread throughout the world's tropics.

Ixora coccinea, known as the Jungle Geranium, Flame of the Woods, and Jungle Flame, is a common flowering shrub native to Asia. Its name derives from an Indian deity. Although there are some 400 species in the genus Ixora, only a handful are commonly cultivated, and the common name, Ixora, is usually used for I. coccinea. I. coccinea is a dense, multi-branched evergreen shrub, commonly 4–6 ft (1.2–2 m) in height, but capable of reaching up to 12 ft (3.6 m) high. It has a rounded form, with a spread that may exceed its height. The glossy, leathery, oblong leaves are about 4 in (10 cm) long, with entire margins, and are carried in opposite pairs or whorled on the stems. Small tubular, scarlet flowers in dense rounded clusters 2-5 in (5–13 cm) across are produced almost all year long. There are numerous named cultivars differing in flower colour (yellow, pink, orange) and plant size. Several popular cultivars are dwarfs, usually staying under 3 ft (1 m) in height. Ixora 'Nora Grant' is a popular dwarf and 'Super King' is a popular hybrid with much larger flower clusters than the species.