There are some special plants in a tiny sliver of mangroves at Woodlands Park.
I decided to check out the mangroves even though the tide was a bit high. Which turned out to be very good timing, because I saw
an otter there!
Among the special trees found in this mangrove are probably among the last naturally wild
Berembang (
Sonneratia caseolaris) on the mainland. This tree is Critically Endangered. The last time I was here
a year ago, I saw two of them. Earlier on, I noticed one that looked like
a dead Berembang. The two remaining trees are very tall, about 15-20m tall. One of them, however, doesn't look very healthy. Oh dear.
It seems a bit 'botak', lots of twigs without leaves.
The other tree, thankfully, is still lush with lots of leaves.
A closer look at the leaves.
I checked for flowering and fruiting, and couldn't find any fruits and only two flowers. One is a bud that seems to have dropped off without flowering. There were no flower stamens on the ground beneath the tree either. Well, perhaps it's just not the season for flowering? I do hope so.
Another special mangrove plant found here is the
Durian air (
Brownlowia tersa), which is listed as Endangered. Wow, the bushy plant has grown since
I last saw it! There seems to also be smaller plants around it.
Unfortunately, as in
my previous trip, there were many branches snapped off the plant.
On the ground were several broken branches. Still a mystery to me why this is happening.
As I explored a little further, I noticed for the first time a plant that might be the
Mangrove trumpet tree (
Dolichandrone spathacea)?! This tree is listed as Critically Endangered.
It was rather far away on the opposite bank and here's closer look at what seems to be a bunch of dark curly seed pods and also of the leaves.
Other interesting trees include a very very large fig which I think is a
Jejawi (
Ficus microcarpa). This is great as this fig tree provides food for a wide variety of birds and other animals.
Draped on the tall trees are these climbers which we call "Money plant". The leaves grow enormously large. I'm not really sure about it's scientific name or status.
Surprisingly, I notice that the plant is creeping onto the mudflats! From the state of the leaves, it seems to be able to withstand some inundation. Oh dear. I wonder if this is bad news for the mangroves. Will these creepers smother the mangrove trees?
The Park is well planted with lots of Fiddlewood trees (
Citharexylum quadrangulare). And they were blooming, attracting bees and butterflies.
I also saw several of this strange plant at the landward edges of the mangrove forest that I can't identify. It has large toothed leaves.
And very odd looking branches. I couldn't find any flowers or fruits. I'm sure Siyang will come to my rescue!
A freshwater stream feeds this sliver of mangroves.
It is so lovely here, with sandy banks, clear water and grasses and other plants growing by the streamside.
Of course there were lots of dragonflies and other insects. And this huge but very fluttery butterfly. Once again, I'm lamely unable to identify it.
I even saw some shorebirds foraging in the stream! They were too quick to photograph, but later on I saw their footprints on the sandbar.
Alas, as the stream flows towards the mangroves it becomes increasingly choked with rubbish.
Mostly plastic bags that are not binned. These slip into our drains and then into our canals and eventually the sea.
Also strange items in the stream. Like this one, I have no idea what this is.
It's really nice to have an accessible stream that leads to a special mangrove inside a manicured park like Woodlands Park. But this also means that people can easily abuse the natural habitat. Let's hope these special bits of wilderness continue to survive.
