Vietnam Begonia

Begonia sizemorea, discovered by American botanist Mary Sizemore beside a stream in Hanoi in 1996. It is closely related to Begonia rex, the mother of many foliage hybrids seen in the market today.

fine ciliate hairs originating from the mesophyll is a characteristic of this species.

Less is more

A catch phase from a recent visit to the doctor.

Most flowers are meant to be large and /or colourful - but not this one. A very simplistic and primitive looking, not to mention dull, "flower" of Dorstenia species (maybe turneraefolia or elata), is in fact a receptacle that bears lots of flowers, and eventually fruits. The closeup shows the long "tails" of the stigma coming out from the embedded bulbous ovaries. Surrounding these are tiny brown bobs which are the anthers from male. As the flowers are already tightly packed, the fruits would be even more so as they develop and expand, eventually building sufficient pressure to catapult out the seeds.

This design is highly efficient - this plant replicates quickly in the garden.

Mysterious bubbles on the Lake

After clearing a small grove of giant pandans at the Seletar swamp, I encountered this strange phenonmenon

The path of the bubbles snaked menacingly toward me and I was backtracking from the water edge....could it be a monitor lizard or even a crocodile

turned out to be juvenile Snake heads (Channa sp) having a feeding frenzy

Found on a tree at a golf course ....

....well, its not a golf ball!

A local Hoya with intense fragrance and nice spherical umbel. It has been called by many names, currently settling at Hoya verticiliata.