Seeds Of Wrightia Religiosa

Paired long, green bean-like seed pods of Wrightia religiosa.   The plant is also called "Wild water plum", "Water Jasmine", "ShuiMei". The plant is a common hedge material and can grow up to ca 6-7 m tall, widely planted as ornamental especially a choice species for bonsai. Flowers are white, pendulous, fruity scented, borne along its twiggy branches. Long, green bean-like seed pods which turn black when ripe and crack open to release the small fuzzy capped seeds. New plants are easily grown from the fresh ripe seed.

From my Bonsai-Wrightia Religiosa

Common Snakeweed

Cat’s Whiskers

It is known as “Misai Kucing” or "Kumis Kucing" in the Malay language (translated as “Cat Whiskers”) because the sprays of white flowers look like a cat’s whiskers!

The scientific name for this plant is “Orthosiphon Aristatus” , this is a common ornamental plant or garden herb in Malaysia.
It is now getting more popular in Singapore too. They can be found in our  neighbourhood garden. They are excellent for the home landscape as bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to the plant for its nectar.

The plants have tropical and exotic blossoms , color in white or bluish-purple, it has a long curved stamens that extend an inch or two past the petals, giving the long bloom spikes an attractive, whisker-like appearance. Nothing better than "cat's whiskers" for the enchanting description of its showy blooms.  

...and this is the bud form of its flowers. 

This shrub-type plant can reach about 2 feet in height and spreads 3 to 4 feet. Cat's whiskers grows well in evenly moist soil,  full sun is recommended, but the plant will grow with several hours of filtered light combined with spotty direct sun. Frequent watering are needed especially in hot climates. Snipping off the flower spikes as they fade encourages new blooms to develop. It's easy to propagate cat's whiskers from cuttings, no serious problems with pests or diseases.

Cat's whiskers is herbal medicinal plants too, the leaves are made to drink, also known as Java Tea. Java Tea, which is used to help pass kidney stones. They are more other benefits of this plant what you can easily find online. Do share with me if you know something about this plants which I have not mentioned in this post.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Sharing with: White Wednesday

Leea Rubra

Leea rubra

Common name: Red Tree-vine

Family: Leeaceae



It is neither a tree nor a vine! It is actually a shrub that can grow to about 2m in height, it has purplish-red stems, flowers and fruits. It also produces flushes of bright green young leaves with reddish margins.  

Flowers red, disc white,  flowers are visited by a variety of potential insect pollinators, including flies, wasps, bees, butterflies, and beetles.

 

Updated 18 Apr 2015

Fungi

D For Dioscorea Sansibarensis

Dioscorea sansibarensis is a species of flowering plant in the yam family known by the common name Zanzibar yam. It is native to tropical Africa, and it is known elsewhere as an introduced species.

This yam grows from a tuber up to 40 centimeters wide. The vine may exceed 7 meters in length and can be 3 centimeters wide. It twines counterclockwise and can reach and grasp supporting trees before it produces its first leaf. The heart-shaped leaves are up to 46 centimeters long by 58 wide. The tip may taper into a tail-like extension. The bulbils are up to 6 centimeters wide and may be purplish in color. -From Wikipedia

This vine type of wild plants can be found at Off Upper Thomson Road, or out side of Singapore botanical garden etc. Although Bulbils of this species are poisonous, but I still like the heart shape leaves and the way they are growing.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Morning Glory

Wild flowers morning glory at Punggol.