Saturday, August 27, 2011

Muntingia Calabura - Singapore Cherry


I chanced upon this interesting tree while waiting at the railway booking office. It is quite a common site - the interesting bit about this tree is that it's branches are perfectly horizontal, unlike those of most other trees that grow upward.
It has tiny white flowers and many small green fruit.
I am pretty sure it is the Muntingia calabura (Singapore Cherry).
The fruit, which is edible, is said to attract birds  and fruit bats.


Take a closer look at the flowers if you come across this tree - they are quite pretty with 5 green sepals and 5 delicate white petals, with many yellow stamen

2 comments:

radha said...

Interesting. Never seen one before.

Anonymous said...

Fruit of this tree is very tasty ... Didnt know that its called Singapore Cherry.