Rain Tree (Samanea saman)

Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)

The large and majestic Rain Tree can be seen growing by our roadsides. It provides plenty of shade with its big umbrella-shaped crown.
When it blooms, the crown of this tree is covered in clusters of pink-white flowers, like small upturned brushes. The leaves fold up before rainy weather – this is why it is called the Rain Tree.
The tree’s leaves also close just before sunset. This is why it is called the Pukul Lima in Malay, which means ‘five o’clock’. The sunset hour in Singapore and Malaysia used to be 5 pm before changes were made to Standard Time in the early 1980s.
There is a large Rain Tree in the Singapore Botanic Gardens with a girth of 5m and a height of 32m. It is classified as one of Singapore’s Heritage Trees, and strikes a truly majestic appearance.

Flower buds of the Rain Tree	Clusters of pink-white flowers
Fruits of the Rain Tree	Rain Trees lining our roads
The bark of the Rain Tree	Leaves of the Rain Tree

Angsana (Pterocarpus indicus)

Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)

Brillian yellow blooms of an Angsana tree
Angsana flowers
Close up of Angsana flowers
Unripe Angsana fruits	Ripe Angsana fruits
Close up of Angsana fruit
Leaflet of an Angsana	Leaves infested by leaf miners
Close up of Angsana leaf	Angsana root flares

The Yellow Flame grows up to 20m tall. It is a popular tree for roadside planting. It is drought-resistant, which makes it well adapted to Singapore’s sunny urban conditions.This tree has a wide-spreading, umbrella-shaped crown, which provides excellent shade.When the tree flowers, its fragrant, brilliant yellow blossoms cover the entire crown. These flowers are about 3cm in size, and have wavy, crinkled petals that resemble tissue paper.After the flowering season, the flowers develop into woody purple-brown fruit pods that develop on the tree. These pods remain in the crown for several months before dropping off.

Yellow Flame in bloom
Yellow Flame flowers	Fallen flowers on the ground
Crown of fruit pods	Yellow Flame fruit pods
Close up of Yellow Flame leaves	New leaves sprouting
Flower buds of the Yellow Flame	Bark of the Yellow Flame tree

Senegal Mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)

Family: Meliaceae

The Senegal Mahogany is a fast growing evergreen tree. It can grow to more than 30m in height, and has a girth of 1 – 2m. It has a straight, robust and cylindrical trunk, with buttresses at the base.

This statuesque tree has a large bushy crown, which provides good shade. It is suitable for planting as a shade and avenue tree.
Its compound leaves are made up of leaflets that are glossy dark green on the upper side and light green on the underside. It has clusters of small, white flowers that give way to round fruits. The fruits split open to release numerous brown winged seeds that are dispersed by wind.

The Khayas (Khaya senegalensis and Khaya grandiflora) are closely related to the true Mahoganies (genusSwietenia). Their timbers are similar in quality.

Flowers of Senegal Mahogany
Fruit of Senegal Mahogany	An avenue of Senegal Mahogany trees
Trunk of a Senegal Mahogany	Tree bark of a Senegal Mahogany

Broad-leafed Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)Family: Meliaceae

The Broad-leafed Mahogany is a large hardwood tree that can grow up to 30m or more. It can be easily recognised by its crown, which is dense dark green and round to oblong in shape.

Its leaves turn from pink to dark green, and become orange-brown to scarlet as they wither. The crown is dark green and its trunk is buttressed, with dark grey scaly bark.

It is the ‘original’ mahogany of the furniture trade, and its timber is regarded as among the best in the world. Its wood is used for making fine furniture and musical instruments.

The most distinctive feature of this tree is its large heavy brown fruit pods. These split into five valves to release flat, winged light-brown seeds.

Close up of the flowers
Flows of the Broad-leafed Mahogany	Fruits of the Broad-leafed Mahogany
Leaves of the Broad-leafed Mahogany	Fruit and leaves
Trunk of the Broad-leafed Mahogany	Buttress roots of the Broad-leafed Mahogany
Broad-leafed Mahogany trees lining our roads	Rows of Broad-leafed Mahoganys along our roads

Tembusu (Fagraea fragrans)

Family: Gentianaceae (Loganiaceae)

Flowers of the Tembusu tree	Close up of the flowers
Tembusu flowers and fruits	Close up of Tembusu fruits
Tembusu fruits and leaves	Artistic branching
A Tembusu tree	Tembusu tree in bloom
A young Tembusu	A mature Tembusu
A Tembusu tree	A row of Tembusu trees

The Sea Apple is a tall coastal tree of this region that grows up to 30m in height. It is a robust tree with large white flowers arranged in compact clusters with showy stamens.The fruits are oblong, with a green leathery rind when ripe. These fruits are sought after by bats, who eat them and help disperse the seeds. In Singapore, most Sea Apple trees flower and fruit from March – May.The Sea Apple was first adopted in Singapore as a wayside tree in the early 1900s. As this tree does not burn easily, it used to be planted extensively as firebreaks, at a time when our roads were bordered by highly flammable lalang wastelands.

Flowers of the Sea Apple
Flower buds of the Sea Apple	Fruits of the Sea Apple
Leaves of the Sea Apple	Trunk of the Sea Apple

Saga (Adenanthera pavonina)

Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)

The Saga Tree is a deciduous tree that grows up to 15-20m tall. It is hardy, fast-growing, and low-maintenance.

The tree’s large spreading crown makes it suitable for providing shade in large gardens. It has distinctive fruit pods, and its scarlet seeds are known for their uniform weight: 4 seeds make up 1 gram. The seeds were widely used in the past as weight measures for gold and silver.

The Saga Tree has been naturalised throughout Malaysia, Africa, Pacific and the Caribbean Islands.

Flowers of the Saga tree	Close up of Saga flower
Unopened Saga fruit pod	Opened Saga fruit pod
Compound leaves	Saga tree by the roadside

The Trumpet Tree grows up to 18-25m tall, and has a large, broadly conical and shady crown. The tree’s name comes from its large trumpet-shaped flowers, which range in colour from pink to white.The fruits are elongated pods, which split open to released winged seeds. This tree is known for its impressive flowering display, where the entire tree is spectacularly covered in blossoms. This takes place in April and August, usually after a dry spell.When their flowers fall, they retain their colour for a couple of days, forming a beautiful carpet of flowers around the tree.

A beautiful array of colours	Crown of glory
An overall form of the Trumpet tree
Flowers of the Trumpet tree
Close up of the flowers	Sunbird visiting the Trumpet tree
Fruit pod of the Trumpet tree	Split fruit pod of the Trumpet tree
Young leaves of the Trumpet tree	Palmate leaves of the Trumpet tree
Trunk of the Trumpet tree	Bark of the Trumpet tree

Sea Almond (Terminalia catappa)

Family: Combretaceae

The Sea Almond or Ketapang is a large coastal tree which grows up to 25m tall. It can be recognised by its distinct pagoda shape, formed by its tiered branching pattern.

This tree has large leaves (15-30cm) that turn yellow, orange and then red when they are about to shed. The almond-shaped fruits turn from green to yellow as they ripen, and the edible seed kernels taste like almonds.

The leaves have an antibacterial effect, as they release tannic and humic acid. They are used in aquariums to promote the health of fishes, and provide a calming effect.

Changi Coast Road is lined on both sides with Sea Almond trees. They can also be found in East Coast Park.

Flowers of the Sea Almond
Close up of the flowers
Fruits of the Sea Almond	Leaf arrangement of the Sea Almond
Buttress roots of the Sea Almond
Crown of the Sea Almond	An avenue of the Sea Almond trees

N.B: Write-up and photos credited to the NPARKS.