It is the beautiful Bakau mata buaya (Bruguiera hainesii) which is listed as 'Critically Endangered' not just in Singapore but globally too!How nice to see that the tree is happily budding, blooming and as well as 'fruiting'. Technically, those long things that look like green sausages are not fruits. They are baby trees sprouting from the seed while the entire fruit is still on the mother tree!
The whole long thing is called a propagule which means 'potential plant'. Thus nurtured by the loving mama tree, the propagule is more able to survive the harsh marine conditions when it eventually falls off to float away and grow into a new tree.
The ground beneath the tree is littered with fallen flower parts and I found three propagules! These were given to NParks who will nurture them into trees to be re-planted in our mangroves.Also in the area, is Singapore's last and only Pisang-pisang (Kandelia candel). It is, needless to say, listed as 'Critically Endangered'. It doesn't look very well, with only two branches feebly growing. I fear we might eventually lose this plant, and that will be tragic.
This is what it looked like in Jan 2010.
And what it looked like in Oct 2009.
I didn't get a chance to look around too much at the rest of the mangroves (which are also nice, see this post), as I headed out to catch the low spring tide on the seafront.Despite the 'fail' water quality at Pasir Ris, there's marine life on the shores!
