This is the 9th post in the Series of Picture Poster-Flowers.The following 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 following illustrations have been resized from their originals to expedite quicker uploading for internet purposes. As such, there will be a drop in the picture or text quality. 

These eight pictures and more, were captured in one hour at the Singapore Botanic Gardens on a gloomy Friday morning on October 12th 2018.

The Cannonball Tree (Couroupita guianensis) at the Singapore Botanic Gardens was first planted in 1931 from seeds collected by Prof E J H Corner from tree specimen/s he found when he was in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Cannonball Tree is a most beautiful and remarkable tree that has fascinated botanists with its curious form. Its flowers are bisexual, large, about 12cm across, fleshy, waxy and fragrant. There are 6 sepals, 6 petals which are yellow on the outside and pink on the inside and many stamens. The tissue of the flower when broken is white but turns blue.

Picture taken at SBG on October 12th 2018.

Cheilocostus globosus is one of the half dozen or so Costus species that comes from Asia – recently renamed (along with Costus speciosus and Costus lacerus) into a new genus – Cheilocostus. This group of Cheilocostus has not been extensively studied and classified by taxonomists and are currently classified into a “Cheilocostus globosus complex”. Common Names : Asian Spiral Ginger, Asian Costus.

There are approximately 190 plus Heliconia species and numerous varieties. These elegant, impressive tropical, flowering plants range in size from a couple of feet high to a towering twenty-five foot tall in the wild.

The plant leaves look similar to some types of banana trees, with flower bracts emerging from the plant like a bunch of bananas. Flowers range in shape, size and colour depending upon the Heliconia variety. Heliconia fanciers often refer to the flower shapes as lobster claw, parrot’s beak or pleated fan. Picture taken at Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Heliconia, derived from the Greek word Ἑλικώνιος (helikṓnios), is a genus of flowering plants in the family Heliconiaceae. These herbaceous plants range from 0.5 to nearly 4.5 meters (1.5–15 feet) tall depending on the species. The simple leaves of these plants are 15–300 cm (6 in–10 ft). They are characteristically long, oblong, alternate, or growing opposite one another on non-woody petioles often longer than the leaf, often forming large clumps with age. 

Their flowers are produced on long, erect or drooping panicles, and consist of brightly coloured waxy bracts, with small true flowers peeping out from the bracts. The growth habit of heliconias is similar to Canna, Strelitzia, and bananas, to which they are related.The flowers can be hues of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens, and are subtended by brightly coloured bracts.

A Heliconia psittacorum species.
​Many species of Heliconia are found in the tropical forests of these regions. Several species are widely cultivated as ornamentals, and a few are naturalized in Florida, Gambia and Thailand. Common names for the genus include lobster-claws, toucan peak, wild plantains or false bird-of-paradise. The last term refers to their close similarity to the bird-of-paradise flowers (Strelitzia). Collectively, these plants are also simply referred to as heliconias.

Musa Laterita. Plants have green, slender pseudostems that grow up to 2 m in height that do not have any wax bloom on them. Leaves are medium dark green in colour with reddish midribs. Size of leaf can be up to 1.5 m long and 0.4 m wide and joined to petioles that can be as long as 0.5 m. Leaf shape is obovate with a truncated apex.Produces an erect inflorescence with brick-red bracts. Fruits are borne on a very compact bunch and pressed parallel to the rachis. Individual fruits can reach 10 cm long, which turn yellow when ripe. Seeds are black, round and flattened on one side. Picture taken at Singapore Botanic Gardens.

October 12th 2018.
Walking along the Rain forest broad walk at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, I spotted this unusual sight from a tree which otherwise had green leaves!