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Pineapple
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Don’t confuse ananas for bananas! Ananas are pineapples! These short, stubby plants actually do resemble their fruits in some ways: from their long, sharp leaves, to the prickly body of the plant. In fact, Pineapple plant can reproduce when you place the top of the pineapple fruit into the ground. After growing, the jewels then form at the top of the plant.
Each fruit is derived from up to 200 flowers! The fruit of a pineapple is arranged in 2 interlocking helices, 8 in one direction, 13 in the other, each being a Fibonacci number.
Perhaps you may not like pineapples because they contain the enzyme bromelain, which break down proteins and essentially attack your tongue, making it feel like its cutting your mouth. This is similar to Kiwi fruit although it contains a different enzyme.
Each fruit is derived from up to 200 flowers! The fruit of a pineapple is arranged in 2 interlocking helices, 8 in one direction, 13 in the other, each being a Fibonacci number.
Perhaps you may not like pineapples because they contain the enzyme bromelain, which break down proteins and essentially attack your tongue, making it feel like its cutting your mouth. This is similar to Kiwi fruit although it contains a different enzyme.
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Lemongrass
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Lemongrass is definitely a familiar plant to Singapore. It is widely used as a herb in Southeast Asian cooking, and is used in soups and curries. As an essential oil, lemongrass is antifungal, antibacterial and can act as a mosquito repellent. Consequently, it can be used as a traditional treatment for fungal infections.
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Chiku
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The Chiku Tree in our school's butterfly garden is still in its infancy - when fully grown it is capable of being over 9m tall. Nonetheless, edible fruits can still be found growing on it. The fruit, which is a large berry, can be eaten raw. Inside, its flesh ranges from a pale yellow to an earthy brown colour. The unripe fruit is hard to the touch and contains high amounts of saponin, which dries out the mouth. When fully ripe however, the flesh is soft and exceptionally sweet, with the flavour of pears, cinnamon and brown sugar combined. Commercially, the latex from the tree is used to make chewing gum.
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The modern banana is a curious plant for it boasts no seeds and is a triploid (having 3 sets of chromosomes, which is possible for plants but has not been found in animals. However, this makes it infertile, unable to reproduce sexually). It is very unlike its natural predecessors which has small fruits full of seeds. To reproduce, these artificially selected banana reproduce asexuallly through vegetative propagation. They produces suckers, lateral shoots that develop from the adult plant. Consequently, every variety found internationally are clones. This, unfortunately, makes them extremely vulnerable to diseases which can quickly wipe out whole plantations.
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Red Dracaena
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Found in the family of asparagus, the Red Dracaena is given a befitting variety name, ‘Firebrand’ - Dracaena literally means a female dragon. This plant is common all over Singapore and is appreciated for adding an outstanding vibrant dark hue to our predominantly green foliage. Some have attempted to grow this terrestrial plant in terrariums but this often ends disastrously as the plant is not well adapted to moist soil.
SearchDownloadsIf you are interested to have a personalised and location-based tour of our garden campus at your own pace, head over to the App Store and Google Play Store and download our HC Garden app now!
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