Not a leaf out of place

Neat and well laid out, the 52-hectare Botanic Gardens in Singapore is paradise, writes RANJIT LAL.

LIKE nearly everything in Singapore, it is neat, well laid out, and disciplined, and wickedly I wondered if its trees were fined a $1,000 for dropping their leaves as and where they liked. But the 52-hectare Botanic Gardens in Singapore certainly was a peaceful place to walk in, and, even if you did decide to daringly walk without a map there was no way you could get lost for more than three minutes; signposts at every corner showed you the way to all the vital hotspots. For a serious student of Botany with a penchant for order, the gardens are paradise, with different families of flora allocated their own niches and not encouraged to grow in a cheek-by-jowl jungly fashion.

Interested in palms? Wander down to what else. "Palm Valley", just south of the main entrance, and there arranged in "herringbone pattern" is the gardens collection of palms (further organised in groups) belonging to some 119 genera and over 250 species. Of course, there are palm trees elsewhere in the gardens, but fear not, these are not runaway vagabonds and nearly all wear neat identity tags. "Palm Valley" was something of an evening hangout for small flocks of the bigheaded parakeets that squawked around them.

The "Heliconia Walk" nearby takes you through beds of flame- coloured Heliconia blooms bearing interesting names like Lobster Claw and Parakeet Flower. Heliconias are rainforest herbs that usually occur within the understory or the edges of the forests.

"Heliconia Walk" was a good place to observe sunbirds scouting the blooms for nectar. Actually it is the bracts that form the colourful part of the plant, the flowers proper are puny wimps lying within.

For those attracted to hardy arid region plants, the "Sun Rockery" offers a collection of over 50 kinds of plants from the drier regions of America, Africa and Asia. Growing these in steamy Singapore must have been challenging. The soil here has been especially prepared to make it porous and allow for quick drainage after tropical downpours.

The "Bandstand" surrounded by its coterie of yellow Rain Trees is another landmark of the park, standing on the highest point, just alongside the "Sun Rockery". Nearby is a large cluster of magenta and pink "Vanda Miss Joaquim", a natural hybrid orchid that was discovered in Singapore in 1892, in Miss Joaquim's garden, and is the national flower of the country. It won the honour on account of its beauty, resilience and ability to bloom all round the year.

Three artificial "lakes" stud the gardens, each with its own reason for being. "Eco Lake" north of the Visitor's Centre has a specially created natural margin and base, to provide a home for the squishy creepy crawlies that like such habitats. "Symphony lake" adjacent to Palm Valley, sports ornamental fishes and water lilies, and "Swan Lake" you guessed it, has swans gliding snootily over its placid surface. It is the oldest lake in the park and was constructed soon after the gardens were founded back in 1859. Next to Swan Lake, adjacent to the Holland Road boundary, a boggy patch of lawn has been developed into a "Marsh Garden". Here, there are sedges, ferns, aroids, water lilies, Torch Ginger, as well as the Sealing Wax Palm (found elsewhere too) and that pineapple imposter, the Siamese Screw Pine.

To many visitors, the highlight of the Botanic Gardens, is the National Orchid Garden, at the western end, with its glamorous collection of some 60,000 orchid plants, comprising 400 species and 2,000 hybrids. For the S$2 entrance fee you can wander about admiring the kaleidoscopic display especially in the Tan Hoon Siang Misthhouse, or ogle the orchids named after such VIPs as Lady Di, Margaret Thatcher (surely a cactus would have been more appropriate) and Usha Narayan. You are cautioned, however, that while in the VIP orchid garden and in the area housing rare orchids, you are under surveillance, so please mind your manners!

To my mind, however, the best part of the Botanic Gardens had to be the tiny four hectare patch of primeval rainforest that stood tall along its eastern boundary. You could sneak into this from an entrance on Cluny Road, or more properly from Palm Valley Road or Maranta Avenue inside the park. Suddenly it would be cave dim, the song of the cicadas would ring in your ears, punctuated by the shrill lament of some bird high up. The giant rainforest trees, with buttresses 10 m tall would make you feel like an ant. Surely the king of this tiny remnant of primeval jungle was the great-great-great grandfather of a banyan that stood like a monument just up from the Palm Valley road entrance. Paths, nicely black-topped (so you can not stub a toe even here!) meandered through this tiny forest of giants, and even here, some of the trees wore helpful identity tags in both Latin and English. To drop a few names, I met Hopea mengarawari (Merwar Penak), Eugenia grandis (Sea Apple), Artocarpus rigidus (Monkey Jack), Palanquium obovatium (White Gutta), and Terminalia subspathulata (Jelwar), each magnificent in its own right. It made one feel ashamed to even think of cutting down these 30 m tall giants, some of which now wore lightning conductors to protect them from thunderstorms, so precious had they become. The sharp sunlight slicing through the canopy, cut emerald shards out of the leaves, and the forest floor was a rich carpet of fallen leaves, the colour of polished and fumed wood. The only bird shameless enough to show itself easily here was our own Indian mynah, and occasionally a squirrel would rustle in the canopy or scuttle along a liana so snake-like and swing-friendly, it would make Tarzan whoop and Jane swoon.

Singapore's original "Botanic and Experimental Garden" was established back in 1822 on Government Hill at Fort Canning, by appropriately enough, Sir Stamford Raffles himself. The driving force was economic - to evaluate crops for cultivation, especially fruits, vegetables and spices like ginger and nutmeg. Those gardens closed in 1829 and it was only 30 years later that the present gardens were established and handed over to the Government for maintenance. Para Rubber, introduced from Brazil in 1877 was one crop that brought major prosperity to the region. Horticultural and botanical research continues to be conducted here, as are educational programmes. Finally, if you do decide to get married in Singapore, having your picture taken in the Botanic Gardens is something of a tradition. And, as is more likely, if you start getting fidgety because you have not shopped in the last 15 minutes, worry not. There are several souvenir shops - near the Orchid Garden and the Visitor's Centre that you can dive into for sustenance and succour.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Drinks for all seasons
Next     : Talkin' about chicken