This is the 2nd post in the Series of Picture Poster-Flowers. The Picture Posters Series blog posts have been separated into pictures with flowers, bees, birds, insects and others. Each blog post will contain about six to eight pictures in each series; and there will be more than a blog post for each section. The pictures have been resized for use in the internet. There will therefore be some fall in quality.

The anonymous text that is usually called the Prayer of Saint Francis (or Peace Prayer, or Simple Prayer for Peace, or Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace) is a widely known Christian prayer for peace. Often associated with the Italian Saint Francis of Assisi (c. 1182 – 1226), but entirely absent from his writings, the prayer in its present form has not been traced back further than 1912. Its first known occurrence was in French, in a small spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell), published by a Catholic Church organization in Paris named La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (The League of the Holy Mass). The author’s name was not given, although it may have been the founder of La Ligue, Father Esther Bouquerel. The prayer was heavily publicized during both World War I and World War II. It has been frequently set to music by notable songwriters and quoted by prominent leaders, and its broadly inclusive language has found appeal with diverse faiths encouraging service to others.

Maiden’s Jealousy, Galphimia Vine, Golden Rod, Australian Gold Vine. (Tristellateia australasiae).
Native Distribution : Taiwain, Southeast Asia (including Singapore) to Australia, and the western Pacific. Grows as a liana, up to 10 m tall or more. Foliage: Its opposite, stalked leaves have somewhat papery leaf blades that are oblong-egg-shaped, and 6-12 by 4-7 cm. Flowers: Its bright yellow-petalled flowers are 2-2.5 cm wide, borne on flowering shoots that are 10-30 cm long.
Fruits: Its star-shaped fruits are 1.5 cm wide, with up to three developing from each flower. Its flowers are frequently visited by bees, butterflies, as well as sunbirds. It is also the food plant for the caterpillars of the butterfly, the brown awl (Badamia exclamationis).

Strelitzia nicolai, commonly known as the giant white bird of paradise or wild banana, is a species of banana-like plants with erect woody stems reaching a height of 6 m (20 ft) and the clumps formed can spread as far as 3.5 m (11 ft).
The 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) long leaves are grey-green and arranged like a fan at the top of the stems, similar to Ravenala madagascariensis. The inflorescence is composed of a dark blue bract, white sepals and a bluish-purple “tongue”. The entire flower can be as much as 18 cm (7.1 in) high by 45 cm (18 in) long and is typically held just above the point where the leaf fan emerges from the stem. Flowers are followed by triangular seed capsules.

Strelitzia reginae. Common Names : Bird of Paradise, Crane Flower.
The genus Strelitzia is named after Charlotte, the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who is wife of George III. The specific epithet reginae means queen. 
Growth Form: A clump-forming plant, rising from underground stem (called as rhizome), growing to about 1.2 m tall.
Foliage: Leaves are greyish-green with long stalks, leaf blades are broad oval shaped.
Flowers: Bracts green and pink, boat-shaped. Flower consists of three orange outer tepals and three blue inner tepals; two inner tepals are joined together resembling arrowhead shape.
Fruits: Fruit is leathery, capsule, has numerous seeds. Seed has orange aril.
Picture taken at the Flower Dome, Gardens By The Bay.

​Ensete lasiocarpum, commonly known as Chinese dwarf banana, golden lotus banana or Chinese yellow banana, is a close relative of bananas, and also a member of the Musaceae family. The plant is native to the Yunnan province in China, where it grows high in the mountains up to an altitude of 2500 m. It’s yellow erect flower generally appears during the second year of cultivation, and can last a few months. Just before opening, the flower resembles a lotus .

Gustavia is a genus of flowering plants of Lecythidaceae family described by Linnaeus in 1775. It is native to tropical Central America and South America. Many of the species are threatened; some are critically endangered. These pictures were taken at Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Calotropis gigantea. Common Names : Crown Flower, Remiga, Merigu, Giant Indian Milkweed, Giant Milkweed, Ivory Plant, Swallow-wort, Asclepiad Tree, Kayu Berduri, Kemengu, Rembaga. 
Growth Form: Medium to big shrub with stout rangey form, up to 4m height when planted in ground.
Foliage: Leaves large, thick, tomentose-velvety, pale silvery-green with powdery bloom on both surfaces.
Fruits: Fleshy capsules, curved and somewhat horned-shaped, ripening from green to yellowish-brown, and splitting apart to reveal small lightweight seeds with fine woolly hairs which assist in dispersal by wind.
Ethnobotanical Uses :
Edible Flowers and used for herbs and spices.
Medicinal: All parts of plants considered to be medicinally effective if taken in small doses. Bark used for dermatitis and syphilis — treatment is so effective for the latter that plant is known as ‘vegetable mercury’. Leaves used as poultice. Flowers used to relieve asthma. Toxic milky sap also known to be used to induce abortions and for infanticide. Products: Plant sap used for tanning and making yellow dye. Fine fibres can be extracted from stems. Flowers are long-lasting, and often used as cut flower in floral arrangements in Thailand. Flowers also strung into leis in Hawaii.
Pictures taken at Singapore Botanic Gardens. Healing Garden Section.

Pachira is a genus of tropical trees distributed in Central and South America, Africa and India. They are classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. Pachira aquatica can grow up to 18 m (59.1 ft) in height in the wild. It has shiny green palmate leaves with lanceolate leaflets and smooth green bark. Its showy flowers have long, narrow petals that open like a banana peel to reveal hairlike yellowish orange stamens. The tree is cultivated for its edible nuts, which grow in a large, woody pod. The nuts are light brown, striped with white. They are said to taste like peanuts, and can be eaten raw, cooked, or ground into flour to make bread. The leaves and flowers are also edible.