Amherstia nobilis is a monotypic species that is rare now.
WHENEVER I take a walk in Hui Sing Garden, I cannot help but reflect on the wonderful trees planted there, especially those foreign-introduced ones. We should be grateful to those who planned the park for having the foresight and the wisdom to select and introduce such good trees for the generations after them.
However, we do seem to be facing a shortage of suitable trees for the home garden and around our cities and towns in general. It is such a pity that we do not have a properly set up botanical park in Kuching although I have heard a few times in the past of one being planned. Well land costs have made it impossible in many cases, but I hope the authorities concerned will still have a good look at this matter again.
What are the good trees I have here for readers today? The Gardens by the Bay in Singapore consists of 101ha and has been open to the public since 2012. Under Plants for the People, there are various themes and wonderful trees gathered from various parts of the world for the masterpiece. The book ‘Guides to Gardens by the Bay: Trees’ by Janelle Jung and others outlines 50 trees with guides for plant enthusiasts.
An introduction
This week let me introduce the bean family (Fabaceae) trees that are specifically grand and majestic in any area that they are planted in. This family comprises trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Legumes have great economic importance as they provide edible products like beans, peas, and ornamentals, including beautiful trees.
Noteworthy is the ability of all members of Fabaceae to form symbiotic associations with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil resulting in the formation of root nodules that are able to fix or capture nitrogen from the air for nutrients. This allows the plant to produce nutritious protein rich seeds. This is because nitrogen is an essential building block of the amino acids that make up proteins. The following are some of those wonderful trees.
Albizia saman has silky crimson flowers and bean-like pods.
Rain Tree
Albizia saman originates from Central and South America – in Nicaragua and Brazil. It is recognised by the large canopy with spreading branches and surfacing roots on the ground as seen when planted along many roadsides and parks. Hui Sing Garden has some of the largest ones.
The inflorescences are borne on peduncles with corolla in yellow or red. It has silky crimson flowers and bean-like pods hanging down on the same peduncle. Interestingly, this tree is termite and rot resistant. Another great feature is that its leaves will fold up in the evening.
The name is drawn from the shower of secretions from sap sucking cicadas or the belief that the tree magically has wet ground underneath it to allow raindrops to fall for watering perhaps. This tree can be grown from seeds or cuttings – even large branches are used for planting.
One of the largest trees can be found by the Lake Garden of Taiping, which was planted over 150 years ago by the first British settlers.
Pride of Burma
Amherstia nobilis is a medium sized tree of around 12 metres in height. The leaves are 50cm long in tassels with a pinkish coppery colour. Inflorescences are terminal and pendulous with red flowers and bear broad pods with seeds.
The name is given as it is native to Myanmar. It is a monotypic species (the only species in this genus) that is rare now, but adopted in parks and gardens. It produces graceful pendulous pink and crimson flowers and drooping pink or light red leaves similar to the Saraca tree. The leaves are also similar in shape to the next tree described below.
Roses of Venezuela
Brownea macrophylla is a native of Colombia and Venezuela naturally but is now widely distributed in other tropical regions worldwide. The tree grows to six metres in height with a dense umbrella-like canopy spreading five metres wide. It is famous for the inflorescences with globose heads of multiple red bracteole sheaths that are 3.5cm long and petals over 4cm long.
Its attractiveness comes from the showy red orange spherical flower clusters that emerge directly from the trunk and branches under a dense umbrella-like canopy. With young leaves in distinctive white to pink drooping from the terminal end of branches like handkerchiefs, it is similar to Amherstia and Saraca, or related genera. We can see them in some parks like Hui Sing Garden and BDC Garden in Kuching.
Hopefully this has sparked your interest in some lovely trees. Do send me an email if you have questions, comments, or suggestions. Happy gardening.