Flushing today at the park

Flushes of a jungle tree
Botanic Island Two

Flushes of "Kuini" - Magnifera odorata
Zone C

Flushes of "Kasai" - Pometia pinnata
Zone C

 January is a month of drizzly rains, heavy rains and continuous rains for days on ends.  What is attractive is to see the leaf exchange process during this period of rains.  In the rainforest there is always the process of continuous leafing, thus the green cover of leaves looking evergreen as in the tropical jungle.  However, looking closely there are also periods of intermittent leafing which produce  leaves in sets or flushes of several leaves together.  Today I saw three at the park showing nice flushing colours.  One is a jungle tree which I cannot identify, next are the flushes of the 'Kuini' fruit tree (Mangifera odorata) and thirdly the flushes of the 'Kasai' or Pometia pinnata which produces sweet tasting longan-like fruits.

Saturday morning walk

 It's a Saturday morning walk in the park with Mama Daisy.  We were trying to catch the early birds.  On top of the tree perches we saw a pair of bulbuls roosting and singing out loud.  Then met with another pair of bee-eaters taking a rest after swooping down below for some bees probably.  We took a short 30 minutes walk to allow for Daisy's extra fat fall off the scale.  Flushing in the park this morning were the light orange and yellowish green flushes of a jungle tree species   and the beautiful dark orange and red flushes of the  'Kasai' fruit tree or Pometia pinnata.

Flushes of a jungle tree species

Kasai or Pometia pinnata

Flushes in the park

Pometia pinnata - Kasai (Malay)

Dillenia suffructicosa - Simpoh air (Malay)

 In a broad sense we need colour in a park to make it a beautiful and memorable place  to visit.  In the evergreen tropical forest environment, flushes are a welcome change providing an autumn-like atmosphere that can actually be seen throughout the year.  I am fortunate to have a good collection of native plant species that produce varying colours of young leaves.  Among the significant ones are the Pawas, Simpoh air, Jering and Balem trees.  To make the flushes appear many times, I have introduced many other tree species like the Ceylon Ironwood , Eugenia oleina and  Kasai . 

Messua ferrea - Ceylon Ironwood

 The Ceylon Ironwood tree produces young leaves in pink flushes and they hang limply in tassels until they become harder and leathery.

a jungle plant species, native to the park..

Eugenia oleina - Syn: Syzygium campanulatum

The Eugenia oleina trees was the first batch of trees I introduced here as roadside trees along the park roads.  They have small narrow pointed leaves and produce young leaves in appealing pink colours. The oleina trees when in flower attract hordes of butterfly species, birds and bees.  At fruiting stage the fruits are savoured by the Philippine glossy starling birds and bulbuls .

Eugenia oleina

Pawas

 The Pawas tree is native to the park.  To the best of my knowledge I noticed that after a season of arrival at the park, the Philippine Glossy starling birds would leave behind seeds of the Pawas in their droppings from which later sprang hundreds of seedlings of the Pawas tree in the forest undergrowth.  The young leaves of the Pawas can be eaten raw as salad or 'ulam' in Malay.

Pawas , belong to the Lauraceae or Laurel family.

Pithecolobium lobatum - Jering (Malay)

 The 'Jering' tree produces fruits that can be eaten in many ways, as salads or desserts.  Its young leaves are a maroon in colour and very attractive to see at a distance.

I guess I will try in future to add more tree species that have colourful flushes to make the park full of colours at any time of the year because some flushes envelope whole trees or canopies and appear very regularly throughout the year.

Pithecolobium lobatum - Jering (Malay)