Allamanda

Allamandas are native to South and Central America but they have become naturalised througout the tropics. You can either find them as a woody evergreens or vines. The flowers are large and bright and blooms all year round. Allamanda is named after Dr. Frederich Allamanda, an 18th century Swiss botanist.

Also known as Yellow Bell, Golden Trumpet or Buttercup Flowers, it belongs to the Apocynaceae family. Allamandas are planted as shrubs or ornamental house plants. They are sun loving plants that require adequate watering.

Scientific name: Allamanda cathartica

Family: Apocynaceae

Common names: Yellow Bell, Golden Trumpet

Malay name: Bunga Akar Kuning, Akar Chempaka Hutan

I found this allamanda cathartica plant with unusually large flowers at a restaurant in Ipoh where I was having dinner. I think the flowers are twice as large as the normal ones that I see around here. The leaves are bigger and stems thicker.

I really like this version with the large yellow flowers. I couldn't help taking out my camera to photograph it. The restaurant owner was very happy with all the attention given to her priced possession. She even offered to give me a cutting to bring home to plant! She told me that she didn't buy it from any nursery but it was planted from a cutting from her mom's plant. The plant was blooming well because she had used fertilizer on it. Then she proceeded to pluck a portion of the stem and gave it to me. She seemed to know what she was doing, so I took it home to try to plant it. Actually I was quite sceptical that this will work.

This is the type that I usually see around my neighbourhood. I think it is alamanda nerriflolia. The flowers are more numerous but smaller. This owner has trained the plant to become leggy and allowed to sprawl. A plastic string is used to tie the branches together, around a pole. Sometimes, I even seem some allamanda plants trained to climb lamp posts or around another tree. The bright yellow flowers really make the tree look more beautiful.

When I got home, I soaked the cut stem in a container of water. Surprisingly, it rooted afer 2 days. I didn't even need to use the rooting inducer powder. However, I had to wait a bit longer for the shoots to appear. It is now growing quite slowly so I am keeping my fingers cross at the moment. Hopefully this works.