Creatures from the swamp

 didn't mean the famous Swampthing shown on TV during childhood when I refer to creatures from the swamp. The creatures are the habitants found in the swampy region of the Pasir Ris Park.

The photograph below shows a mudskipper :

The rest of the 4 consecutive photographs features crabs, ranging from huge ones to smaller versions. They were taken with our digital camera's zoom-in function :

Ulam Raja / Pelampong (Scientific Name : Cosmos caudatus Kunth)

When we visited the Pasir Ris Park recently, we spotted another breed of cosmos flower growing amongst the Orange Cosmos.

This version of the Cosmos flower is in ombre pink (meaning that there's is a graduation of white to pink on its petals).


Not unlike its orange counterpart, the pink cosmos flower attracts both butterflies & bees as shown in the photograph below:


Based on National Park's Flora & Fuana Web, this breed of flower's scientific name is known as the Cosmos caudatus Kunth.

It is also commonly known as Ulam Raja or Pelampong and its leaves were known to be of medicinal value e.g. it is used to increase blood circulation in traditional medicine in the South East Asia.

Its leaves were also consumed as a vegetable in Malay cuisine.

Golden Trumpet Flowering Climber (Scientific Name : Allamanda cathartica)

This is a flower that is pretty commonly found in nurseries and even at some public places.

HIBISCUS (Different breeds)

Hibiscus flowers are a common sight found in the private gardens of homes & nurseries all year round.

I've tried my luck on Hibiscus but they were tough on me & would usually die off as they require alot of sunlight. The nurseries had also advised me that Hibiscus plants are prone to diseases and not advisable for homes that do not receive much sunlight.
(Rule of thumb: Flowering plants require adequate sunlight to survive & bloom)


The Hawaiian Salmon
As I couldn't find the breed of this Hibiscus flowering plant from the National Park's website, I've looked elsewhere & found that it's known as the Hawaiian Salmon.





The colour of such breeds of Hibiscus does look like the meat of cooked salmon. They are characterised by hanging multi-coloured flowers & are fast growing. According to sources, they are good for outdoors.

Hibiscus schizopetalus

To start with, we didn't know that this was also a breed of Hibiscus because the flowers looked nothing like the typical Hibiscus.



The Schizopetalus Hibiscus was said to be a weeping tree hibiscus. Its flowers are characterised by a parachute-like appearance and can be identified by the dangling stamen and lacy petals. It does look like a pretty, red chinese lantern, which explains why it is also commonly known as the Chinese Lantern / Japanese Lantern.

A less desirable nickname is the Skeleton Hibiscus.

Don't you think that these flowers look like pretty chinese lanterns with tassels & dangling from the branches?


When we first spotted the plant at Pasir Ris Park, it looked quite pathetic although there were plenty of freshly bloomed flowers. Its stature resembled nothing like what we have seen in the photograph attached below. The photograph's version of the Hibiscus looked really healthy with good growth of green leaves.



The version in Pasir Ris Park looked neglected & quite "bare", to the extent that there were only 3 to 4 stalks of leaves on the stem even though there were 5 hibiscus flowers growing from it.

The buds of these blooms resembled smooth-skinned peanuts as shown in the photograph below:


More photographs of the red lanterns


 

The Chinese lantern being flanked by another breed of Hibiscus:

Honolulu Creeper (Scientific Name : Antigonon leptopus)

I think most of us would find this creeper a very common sight especially decades ago when Singapore isn't as urbanised as these modern times.

I used to recall that many old houses in the past were surrounded by green or even rusty wire mesh-like fencing & they would be flanked by Honolulu Creepers or Blue-bell plants.

These Honolulu Creepers had a lengthy list of commonly-known-as names, such as the Chinese Love Vines, Chain of Love, Hearts on a Chain, Queen's Wreath. Which speaks alot on love & romance...



Since the Honolulu Creeper is so closely associated with love & romance, and has such a saturated tone of fuchsia pink, then it must be an auspicious flower to be grown in parks & perhaps, the Registry of Marriage could consider having such creepers planted within its vicinity too!

I've incidentally fished out its chinese name from National Park's website, which says: 珊瑚藤 or 朝日藤.

I love the saturated shades of pink! Don't they look yummy?

Floral series : Orange Cosmos (Scientific Name : Cosmos Sulphureus)

We noticed that butterflies love them and the shrubs of these orange blossoms were found to be clustered in Pasir Ris Park.

And these orange, cheery-looking flowers had definitely added alot more vibrance to the palette of colours in any garden.



This photograph shows the yellow version of the flower, which is not as abundant in bloom as compared to its orange counterparts:


Photographs of its shrub with pretty orange blooms (with a few yellow versions):




A weather-beaten shrub after a heavy downpour that took place throughout the day:


Applying "softening" editing effects on this photograph to achieve a dreamy effect:

Floral series : Madagascar Periwinkle (Scientific Name : Catharanthus roseus)

Periwinkle flowers are not my favourite. I used to see them all over along the streets during my childhood. In my opinion, I always had the impression that they are "weeds" ...