Zamia furfuracea - Cardboard palm/plant

The plant
The Cardboard palm is a "living fossil" having been around for since the dinosaurs' time. It is probably named after cardboards for the stiff quality of the leaves. It is technically not a palm tree, however, actually belonging to the cycad family.

The photo
I am pretty pleased with how the photos turned out, as the colour (at least from my computer) looks nicely green. I realise that I like to take pictures of plants from the top view - a seldom seen perspective of how they spread their young leaves.

The personal-take
I do appreciate the quality of the leaves - having the beautiful symmetry of palm leaves, and yet, a different character from "modern palms" with its distinctive texture. The shape of the leaves also reminds me of certain bamboos.

I suppose the plant should be easy to keep alive, having lived to survive since the prehistoric days. I do wonder if it would be difficult to groom it though, seems like the leaves shoot into difficult directions. In this aspect, it lacks the neatness of the true palms.

Davallia denticulata - Johor/Rabbit's foot fern

The Plant
The Johor fern is often taken for granted in tropical Singapore - or rather, by me - as it's rather widely available, especially in floral arrangements and corsages.

I've come to pay more attention to it, recently, and appreciate it for its elegant and intricate form. The stem has an good strong arc about it. It's my subjective opinion, but I think it complements orchids especially well.

Also, known as the Rabbit's foot, for the way the root/stem looks. It's brown and furry. Either that or the pinate leaves make it look like a rabbit's foot print. Either that or it originated when some goddess planted an amputated rabbit's foot. :S

The Photo was taken in a garden corner at suntec. The fern was growing on a Phoenix roebelenii if I don't recall wrongly. In Johor, the fern would be growing on the oil palm trees.

If I'm not mistaken, they welcome the fern as it prevents insects from entering the palm and so on.

The personal-take
When I was working for my parents, I once took on an order for 10,000 pieces of johor ferns. It was quite scary to see the entire packing house turned green with the ferns. Quite a traumatic experience, that led to the loss of some money and an invaluable lesson learnt by me, and that hit a nerve-still-too-raw to broadcast across the internet.

Archontophoenix alexandra - Alexander Palm

The Plant
The Archontophoenix alexandra or Alexander Palm is quite common in landscapes. It used to be one of plants featured in "primary school textbook" - I feel it's like the yellow flame tree of palms because it's just as common. I think its popularity is perhaps partially due to how they are easy to maintain. It seems that landscapers like this palm so much that they even introduced similar ones - the Betel nut palm, the fox tail palm, and especially the carpentaria palm, from which it is difficult to distinguish the Alexander palm from. After comparing the photos, I think the one-distinguishing feature is the string-like flowers/inflorescence and vivid red fruits. The leaves are pinnate, arranged in a v-shaped formation.

The Pictures
I found it challenging to capturing the images of the tall palm trees - it was difficult to get the distinguishing features, and yet balance the composition of the frame - so that it was neither too sparse nor contained other clutter.

For the first time, I edited the pictures a bit (i'm usually too lazy) to adjust the colour, as it was taken with a strange white balance, thus the 2 pictures (taken at the same occasion) have different-coloured-sky. I hope my efforts helped to bring out the vivid red of the berries.

The Personal-take
Along the way from my home to the nearest bus-stop, I would have to walk pass a row of Alexander palm - the strings of jewel-like red beads of fruits are really cheerful.

I like the name, 'Alexander palm', after Princess Alexandra of Denmark. It reminds me, however, of the people named 'Alex' that I used to hang out, but have since drifted apart from then... A tinge of nostalgia, perhaps.

Phoenix roebelenii - Miniature date palm

The Plant & The Pictures
The Phoenix roebelenii seems to be enjoying some popularity recently, being featured in quite many new landscapes.

With a simple shape - a slender trunk and attractive bushy leaves - they should be quite easy to use in an arrangement.

I wonder though, if the feature on the left is an effective landscaping design. As the date plants grow higher, the height of the plants are bound vary, and the proportion of crown (the upper part of the tree, i.e. the part above the trunk) to the trunk and the proportion of the arrangement would be, well, out of proportion. Although I know that, by that time, the plants would most probaby be replaced (it's probably cheaper to replace than properly maintain), I wonder if it's being fair to the plants themselves, for not being...able to live out their full potential/ lifespan.

The Personal-take
I didn't think much of the plant when I took the pictures, but after researching on them and staring at them for sometime. I feel that they have a very classic outline and elegant form. It must be difficult to shape the trunk though.

Caryota No - Giant Fishtail Palm

The Plant & Picture
Also known as the Caryota No, the trunks contain a starch that can be used to make sago. Sometimes I don't know how I can miss noticing the Giant Fishtail palms around me. It's a giant as seen in the picture on top, it easily grows to be as tall as a 5-storey carpark, dwarfing the other trees around it.

The picture (right most) also features the inflorescence, which can reach up to 2 metres in length. I think it looks like dread locks. Very pretty.

The Personal-take
Taken from the top level of the carpark at Ang Moh Kio central (it's really crowded on Sundays), I got a close up shot of the sprouting new leaf. I really like the different patterns and texture of the leaves when looked at from different perspective.

Oncosperma tigillaria - Nibong

The Plant
The Nibong palm has a nice name, no? Very catchy.
This palm originated from the mangrove swamps.
Researching about it in the older guidebooks, i suspect it was grown as an ornamental feature in parks and gardens - they're attractive in clumps. The newer guidebooks have excluded it. Perhaps their sharp spikes made them too hazardous?

The Pictures
Taken at Macritchie nature reserve.

The Personal-take
I most like how the sun shines from behind the spikes and make them look so quiet, exquisite and... fragile, ironically.
Whilst most plants with thorny parts are "defensive on the outside" but "soft on the inside", the Nibong is reported to have hard wood - used to support kelongs as it can withstand salt water.