Heritage Trees - Penaga Laut (Calophyllum inophyllum) 红厚壳 @Bedok Jetty

 Heritage Trees - Penaga Laut (Calophyllum inophyllum) 红厚壳 @Bedok Jetty (2022 0311)

Locate: East Coast Park @Bedok Jetty (HT 2002-318)

It is native to tropical Asia and Wallacea

Common Name: Alexandrian laurel balltree, beach touriga, Borneo-mahogany, Indian doomba oiltree, Indian-laurel, laurelwood, red poon, satin touriga,tacamahac-tree. In Island Southeast Asia and Oceania, also commonly known as bintangur, bitaog, tamanu, or kamani, 瓊崖海棠.

An evergreen tree that can grow up to 30 m to 35 m in height. Crown is wide spreading. Trunk is usually short and thick. Bark is dark brown and deeply cracked. Heartwood is heavy and reddish in colour. Leaves are simple, dark green, glossy. Flowers occur in clusters, white in colour, fragrant. Fruits are 2-5cm in diameter, ball-shaped, light green in colour, grow in clusters. Native, critically endangered in the wild. Cultivated. The Girth of this Heritage Tree was measured at 6.8m in Year 2001; 6.9m in 2014.

This genus of trees, Calophyllum, is readily recognized by their beautiful leathery leaves: each leaf has numerous slender veins running parallel from the midrib to margin. In fact the word calophyllum comes from the Greek language which means ' beautiful leaf '. The Penaga Laut is a tree of many uses: the oil from the seeds is used to heal a multitude of skin ailments and the resin, leaves and roots also have various medicinal uses. This Penaga Laut is more than 100 years old and the Botany Centre was designed and built around it in order to preserve it.

Getting There:

MRT Bedok (EW5)/Bedok Int Stop ID: 84009 Board Bus 155/196/197 and alight at Opp Eastern Lagoon II Stop ID: 93131 and walk via Laguna Flyover

MRT Tanah Merah (EW4)/Tanah Merah Stn Exit A Stop ID: 85099 Board Bus 31/47/48 and alight at Opp Eastern Lagoon II Stop ID: 93131 and walk via Laguna Flyover