A Guide to Singapore's Street Trees

Do you know Singapore has "cherry blossom" season too? Give yourself a screen break and try to spot the trumpet tree and other common street trees!

If you're anything like me, you may be hunched over like a prawn and reading this article on your phone. How much screen time have you had today? In 2016, the Healthy Living Index Survey found that the average Singaporean spends a whopping 3.7 hours online, excluding time from work. It's time to go outside and touch some grass!

Break the monotony of staring at your screens by taking a leisurely stroll down the street and admiring Singapore's lush scenery, or gaze out at our tropical city from the comfort of your home. Research suggests that spending time around trees can improve well-being and boost longevity (see this handy primer from Greater Good Magazine).

You don't even need to trek to MacRitchie Reservoir to reap the benefits. A June 2024 study in the journal People and Nature found that participants who simply looked at green elements in urban environments reported better moods and less anxiety.

Here’s a little exercise to rejuvenate yourself: go to the nearest window or strap on your walking shoes, take a deep breath, and try identifying these eight common street trees of Singapore using the pictures below.

1. Rain Tree

• Crown: Large, wide, umbrella-shaped

• Flowers: Pink, white, and red powderpuff flowers that may cover the whole tree in full bloom

• Leaves: Evergreen leaves that fold or close in the evening or under rainy conditions

• Fruits: Long straight seedpods that are dark brown or black (looks like sweet pea)

• How to Spot: Known as weather forecast tree or the time-telling tree. Seeing its leaves all droopy and closed would mean that rain is approaching or that the sun is setting - time to head home!

• Locations: Bras Basah Road, Connaught Drive, lining most roads in the CBD

2. Yellow Flame

• Crown: Large, wide, and umbrella-shaped crown

• Flowers: Yellow flowers with crinkly petals (looks like tissue paper)

• Leaves: Contain many small green oval leaflets

• Fruits: Woody purple-brown seedpods

• How to Spot: The tree with a crown full or carpet full of yellow flowers during blooming season

• Locations: Bras Basah Road, Bugis Junction Area, lining most roads in the CBD

3. Angsara

• Crown: Dome-shaped, drooping crown

• Flowers: Slightly fragrant small yellow flowers that bloom for a day before falling and scattering on the ground (also looks like tissue paper)

• Leaves: Large, long, droopy leaves containing 5-11 leaflets

• Fruits: Round and flat pod with papery wings

• How to Spot: Probably the most firework-looking tree on the street thanks to its long droopy leaves.

• Locations: Bras Basah Road, Clarke Quay, Science Centre Singapore :D

4. Trumpet Tree

• Crown: Large and broadly conical crown

• Flowers: Large pink or white trumpet-shaped flowers. Flowering is induced by dry spells

• Leaves: Each leaf contains 5 leaflets in a shape of a palm

• Fruits: Elongated pods (looks like a long bean)

• How to Spot: Singapore's version of sakura blossoms, there's no need to travel all the way to Japan!

• Locations: Parks and park connectors, median strips of major highways (CTE, PIE)

5. Senegal Mahogany

• Crown: Large bushy crown

• Flowers: Small white flowers that grow in clusters

• Leaves: Leaves consist of leaflets with a glossy dark green top side and a light green underside

• Fruits: Brown round fruits that split open to release winged seeds

• How to Spot: Probably the most broccoli-looking tree on the street due to its large bushy crown

• Locations: Lining the roads in many residential estates

6. Sea Almond

• Crown: Pagoda-shaped, tiered crown

• Flowers: Tiny white flowers bloom on long spikes

• Leaves: Large, thin, leathery leaves that turn shades of yellow and red before they fall off twice a year

• Fruits: Almond-shaped fruits that float on water

• How to Spot: The closest you can get to an autumn experience in Singapore

• Locations: Changi Coast Road, East Coast Park, various coastal areas

7. Tembusu

• Crown: Conical crown when young, lofty and irregular crown when old

• Flowers: Tiny cream-white and yellow flowers grow in clusters

• Leaves: Light green oval leaves with pointed tips

• Fruits: Tiny red berries that taste bitter

• How to Spot: Just reach into your wallets for a good example, it's the tree on the back of our five-dollar note!

• Locations: The heritage tree in Singapore Botanic Gardens makes for a good photo spot!

8. Supertree Grove ;D

• Crown: Inverted umbrella shaped crown

• Trunk: Steel-covered concrete trunk

• Plants: 158,000 plants of over 700 species

• How to Spot: Recognising this tree is not difficult; after all, it is the #2 must-see attraction in Singapore (Science Centre Singapore being #1 of course!)

• Location: There are only 18 of these planted in Gardens by the Bay, there is literally nowhere else to find them!

Original article by Genevieve Teo
Edited with new introduction by Jamie Uy
Original illustrations by Toh Bee Suan
New graphics by Jansen Michelle

This article was originally published as "A Singaporean's Guide to Common Street Trees" in Science Centre Singapore's previous blog, I Saw the Science, on 31 July 2020. The article has been republished with new graphics and a new introduction for Void Deck.

Last updated: 1 November 2024