SPREAD across Penang island, many different flowers that are in bloom various times of the year. Boasting a long history of horticulture research that began with the founding of the Penang Botanic Gardens in 1884, the island has presented itself as a platform to safeguard the economic interest of the Colony by providing a test bed for seedlings from different parts of the world to be planted and researched.

Today, as a consequence of this phenomenal movement of plant materials from around the world, Penang has become ‘home’ to many exotic flower species. View gallery below

Read below for some notes on the flowers showcased in the slideshow:

• Adenium: A member of the same botanical family as the frangipani, it is a small treelet native to East Africa and Arabia. It has pale grey succulent stems that produce a white poisonous latex when cut, glossy club-shaped leaves at the branch ends, and unlike most succulents, an almost continuous display of large, trumpet-shaped flowers that rang in colour from pink to crimson. Read here for more.
• Allamanda: Originally from Central and South America, and named after the Brazillian naturalist, Allamand, the bright yellow flowering Allamanda, has become a garden staple in most part of the tropics. Read here for more. Read here for more.
• Frangipani: The Frangipani is among the easiest of tropical trees to propagate from seeds, cuttings and air layering, which is perhaps one reason why, this native of the New World, quickly spread to other warm-weather regions. Its fragrant, five-petalled flowers are used as offerings in both Buddhist and Hindu ceremonies. Read here for more.
• Ixora: A sturdy, free flowering shrub that thrives under a variety of conditions, Ixora is one of the most popular garden plants all over South East Asia. Its flowers which occur in clusters of as many as 60 at the ends of the branches are found in a wide range of colours and its size maybe either dwarf or quite large. Read here for more.
• Pride of India: Also popularly known as the Rose of India and the Crepe Myrtle, this native of India is one of the most popular flowering trees in the tropics. It can eventually reach a height of 30 meters. Read here for more.
• Trumpet Tree: A native of South America, this flowering tree was introduced to South East Asia in relatively recent years. Most varieties are deciduous, producing flowers after the leaves fall and for this reason they do best in places where there is a prolonged dry season. Read here for more.

(Source: Warren, W, 2004, Handy Pocket Guide to Tropical Flowers, Periplus Editions) 

Related links

• 'Cavernous' Angsana (Nature, iGT Photos)
• Floral power (Events, iGT Photos)
• Botanical Gardens, Penang (Places of interest, iGT Videos)
   

GOOD water management in Penang has had a long and interesting history since Sir Francis Light first commissioned the development of the first simple water supply and distribution system in the Settlement of Penang Island in 1804. “It was the first of its kind in the country and was able to cater for the need of the 10,000 odd population on the Island...

“Water was sourced from the waterfall in the Penang Botanic Garden and supplied via a long brick aqueduct to the town. Earthenware pipes were laid through the streets as distribution pipes to the individual houses.”  Read here. The reservoir of the Penang Waterfall was constructed in the gardens in 1892 by British engineer J MacRitchie. It was reconstructed in 1950.

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