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Monday, November 16, 2009

The Yellow Cassia Trees of KLCC Park


* Scientific name: Senna spectabilis
Synonym: Cassia spectabilis, Senna macranthera
Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Common name: Cassia, Scented Shower
Origin: Tropical America

* Thanks to Dr. Francis Ng, who pointed out to me that the ID of this plant is most likely Cassia spectabilis, I have updated my post accordingly.



Information sourced from http://www.toptropicals.com/:-

Cassia spectabilis is:
One of the most spectacular trees. Fast growing small to medium size tree with architectural crown structure and narrow pointed leaves that make this plant stand out from other cassias/sennas. Showy yellow flowers are scented and attract butterflies. The flowers come in big clusters and when the tree is in full bloom (Spring to Fall), the view is spectacular, hence the name. This plant looks very pretty as a container specimen or as a separately standing tree for a small yard. Prefers soils that are deep, moist and sandy but will tolerate calcareous soils. The rare plant doesn't exist in a wild anymore and can be found only in cultivation. The seeds of Cassia spectabilis are a potential source of commercial gum.


I found these beautiful yellow cassia trees at KLCC Park during my visit in October 2009. It was planted a short distance away from the Elevated Bridge.


At the time of posting, I am still unable to locate a signage that gives the details of this tree.

As with many plants in Malaysia, it is an evergreen small tree that blooms the whole year through. Malaysia is situated just above the Equator and our climate is hot and humid with plenty of sunshine and rainfall. Average day temperatures are 35 C and night around 25 C.


This is how the tree look like from afar.


Here is another yellow cassia tree planted at the Children's Pool area.
Scientific name: Cassia fistula
Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Common name: Golden Shower Tree or Indian Laburnum
Origin: Sri Lanka and India

Information source: Tropical Horticulture and Gardening Book by Dr. Francis SP Ng
A small to medium-sized tree, 5-10m tall, bearing pendent inflorescenses on the larger branches. In its native countries, flowering occurs once a year in the dry season, when the crowns are bare of leaves. In the humid tropics, a full flowering display is uncommon, but some trees manage to flower twice a year and some even produce a trickle of flowers throughout the year. Grow in full sun. Propagate by seeds.


The Cassia fistula is also another small tree with pretty cream yellow flowers and long bean pods where the seeds are stored. It provides some shade at the children pool area at KLCC Park.

Do visit malaysian-explorer.com's Suria KLCC's page for quick facts and interesting information about KLCC.

Today's post is dedicated to The Stopwatch Gardener, my first commenter for the Erythrina Glauca, The Red Flower Tree post.

This post is my entry for Mellow Yellow Monday # 43. My grateful thanks to Drowsey Monkey for hosting this fun site. To participate or to view other MYM posts around the world, please click here.

24 comments:

  1. We have this kind of trees in the Philippines too I just forget the name. This is really beautiful when all the flowers bloom, just make me happy watching them.

    Mine is up My Life’s Journey in Focus

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  2. I thought that was a long beanpod! I have NO idea what it is, but it's a gorgeous tree - pretty beanpods, foliage, shape, flowers, everything. That pool looks really refreshing too!

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  3. Oh yes, this tree! I also notice that they are planted everywhere. Its yellow flower is really wonderful. They look best during sunny days. I like the surroundings of KLCC, very neat landscaping ;-D

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  4. that's a pretty tree!
    Here's my MYM entry.

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  5. There are few yellow flowering trees that have the same features but they are different.
    I have seen one with a flat seedpod and the leaves leaves sort of closes during the night.
    Its known as SENNA BICAPSULARIS

    I guess this one is different from the featured one in your post. If you come across Senna, Im sure you would able to identify it.

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  6. Hi Autumn Belle,
    Thank you very much for the classification and the scientific name of the 7 needles. I have not been into my blogsite for a while that i did not see your comments at once. Again thank you very much. As to your blog question whether the needle-like protrusions in the flower will become the pods, yes they are. I have the technical knowledge about these things: the flowers, fruits, fertilization, botany, etc, but of course i am not knowledgeable much on classification. The taxonomists do these for us.

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  7. The Cassia Fistula is quite a common sight in Delhi, where I live. It is called Amaltaas(in Hindi) or Indian Laburnum. It looks really beautiful when flowering.
    For more information you can follow the following link:
    http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Amaltas.html

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  8. Eileen, Manang Kim, Wendy, Stephanie, James, Joops.
    The flowers look like butterflies and there are so many of them, it is indeed showy. Flowers are in 2 shades of light and dark cream yellow.

    James, actually I tend to get confuse over Senna and Cassia. I think both are quite similar.

    Andrea, with your technical knowledge, I hope you can check on me and correct me when I am wrong. I am not a botanist. I just learn from the internet! So maybe my information is wrong. Thank you for teaching me to put italics and capital letter followed by small letter when describing the botanical/scientific name. I will remember this. I find this useful too.

    Sujata, I observe that the cassia fistula is more common than the floribunda over here where I stay. The flowers of the floribunda is really very beautiful, the shape, colour and even the bean pod is unique.

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  9. I was also inspired to look for the real name of your Cassia or Senna floribunda. I opened a lot of sites also and it looks like they are synonyms, here is the easier ref: http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb/6.00/taxa/17547.shtml. I know they are all in the genus Cassia but i am sure only of the fistula, hehe

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  10. I saw it in our back yard it is pretty. Happy MYM!

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  11. I've never seen that kind of tree before. The lovely yellow blossoms looks so fresh and cheerful. :)

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  12. never have seen this tree before, but it is gorgeous!!! thank you for sharing it with us.

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  13. Even if you got the name wrong, I would never have a clue. It is still so pretty! Nice choice for mellow yellow monday!
    Rosey

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  14. It has beautiful blooms Autumn Bell. Ahhh , to have blooms all year around. I see that one is growing leaning right with the bank.
    The leaves are sparse on it so it must take up most of its energy in blooming.
    What a beautiful park.THe stepping stones across the water to the falls are just wonderful.

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  15. Truly beautiful..I love yellow..it is so peaceful and uplifting at the same time!! Wonderful magical shots!! beautiful post!

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  16. That pastel smooth yellow is so lovely. These photos are gorgeous and thanks for the info and botanical names.

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  17. Andrea, you are such as sweet girl. I have good news. Dr. Francis Ng, the Consultant Botanist at The Secret Garden of 1-Utama has helped me ID the plant. It is Cassia spectabilis I have updated the post.

    Life’s journey, Dianne AZ, Janean, Rosey, Lona, Kiki, Poetic Shutterbug. Thank you very much for the uplifting comments.

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  18. Hi Lovely to see the Cassia trees. My daughter's partner has land he owns in the Gambia and they grow these trees there with many others. She has described the Cassia and in fact we managed to get some seeds to grow although keeping them through the winter may be difficult. They are such lovely trees.

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  19. Joanne, there are so many varieties of cassia trees with lovely flowers. You will surely enjoy a visit to your daughter and her partner's place. Cheers to you!

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  20. Just bought three cassias. I don't want them to grow real tall. Question: can I cut them back? Will that interfere w/the blooming?

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    Replies
    1. You can trim a young cassia tree so that it will grow into a compact form with a strong structure. Older trees can be pruned after flowering. Pruning will encourage new shoots and more blooming.

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  21. I like this tree type as well.. planning to grow about 4 - 8 tree beside my house.. planning to grow from seeds.. i will post the photo later if i successfully grow these trees.

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