Burma Balck Rosewood 缅甸檀树 @Sengkang East Avenue (2021 0406)
Scientific name: Dalbergia oliveri
Common names throughout S.E. Asia are: Cambodian: "Neang Nuon", Thai: "Mai Ching Chan" (ไม้ชิงชัน), Laos: "Mai Kham Phii", Myanmar: "tamalan" (တမလန်း), and Vietnamese: "cẩm lai" or "trắc lai".
The trees are found in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Location: Sengkang East Avenue & Sengkang East Road HDB
This is an extremely graceful tree, with its spreading crown of delicate, feathery-looking foliage. It can grow into a tall tree of about 20 metres. The leaves are simple and of pinnate compound (made up of many small leaflets arranged alternately along a stalk). Flowers are small and in bunches. The flowers are lilac in colour during the budding stage, becomes pink, and finally white. Fruits are thin pods (flat, narrow and with a long stalk). They do not split open at maturity to liberate the (one, sometimes two or three) flat seeds.
This tree is native to Myanmar and Thailand. It was introduced into Singapore as an ornamental wayside tree. During the early part of the 20th Century (1900s), it was extensively planted on Fort Canning but now, few can be seen along the roadside. Certain species of Dalbergia are timber trees of great value, eg. the Brazilian rose-wood, the Indian rose-wood and the African blackwood.
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