We Have Tico Berry at KLCC Park

Do you know what is Tico Berry?

Have you ever heard of Tico Berries?

I think most Malaysians would have never heard of tico berries until they watched the 47th episode of Ugly Betty titled, "Ugly Berry". In this episode, Ugly Betty found out that super sexy super gorgeous supermodel Adriana Lima was a fan of this super rare fruit, the tico berry!

Is tico berry a fictitious name created for the show?

Well, most of us who saw the ' rare berry' know that it looked like our rambutan. If you google for tico berry, wikipedia will lead you to rambutan!

Rambutan is a Malay word. "Rambut" means hair while "rambutan" means lots of hair.

This is a young rambutan tree at KLCC Park. It is our indigineous tree. Rambutan trees grow wild in the tropical rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia.

In the "Eat, Pray, Love" movie, Julia Roberts and her Brazilian partner went shopping at the wet market in Bali and came across this exotic, 'hairy fruit' called the rambutan.

Scientific name: Nephelium lappaceum

Family: Sapindaceae

Common name: Rambutan

Origin: Malaysia, Indonesia

Sapindaceae is also known as the soapberry family and it include lychee, longan, maple and horse chestnuts.

“We Have Tico Berry at KLCC Park”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on November 5th, 2010.

The rambutan fruits turn from green to bright red or yellow when riped.

Rambutan trees are commonly found here, especially in the villages and countryside. When I was little, we had a rambutan tree in my house compound. Whenever rambutans were in season (usually twice a year), the tree would be loaded with rambutan fruits and we would have so much we could not finish all, so we distributed them to our neighbours in bunches and baskets. The tree was just next to my bedroom window and I used to fantasized how nice it would be if there was a tree house/playhouse with a ladder from my window to the tree!

If there was a rambutan tree at home, there was bound to be a family member who can climb this tree. In my case, it was my dad. Some moms, grandmas, sisters and kids could achieve this feat too. It was quite necessary to climb the tree to harvest the fruits, eventhough we had a long stick or pole with hook attached. When rambutan fruits were not in season, people might also climb the tree e.g. to get a clearer view of certain exciting events or happenings, e.g. a street magic show, street medicine man demonstrating his stuff within a large crowd of people. That was old times, old times .....

When I got married and moved to the city, I had a big rambutan tree, a jackfruit tree and also 2 mango trees in my corner house compound. The trees provided shade for my children to play their outdoor games and they enjoyed riding on the wooden swing that was tied to the branches of our rambutan tree. It was home to the birds, some ferns and even provided food for the bats. It also was a good aiming target for some neighbouring kids to practice their lastic (catapult) skills on the poor little tweety birds.

When I moved to my current house, the new owners didn't want any plants or trees because they wanted to cement the whole area for parking their lorry and cars. I had to cut them down. Soon the trees were gone forever, and now, only cherised memories remain.

The rambutan is closely related to the lychee and longan. To eat the fruits, we need to peel off the skin first. We can just do this using our fingers. We eat the whitish, translucent flesh wrapped around the single seed. The best varieties have thick, sweet flesh. Rambutans are full of vitamins and minerals.  When buying rambutans, it is better to select those that are still attached to the branches as these fruits last longer in storage.

As a safety precaution, we do not give the whole fruit to young children as they may accidently swallow it and choke to death. You can see that the fruit is round and slippery, so we peel off the flesh before serving it to them. Peeled rambutan flesh can be easily stored in the fridge.

Rambutan flesh can be used to make rambutan jam. You can buy canned rambutans stuffed with pineapple and use them to make fruit punch.

Rambutan trees can be propagated from seeds, by air layering or grafting.

Andrea has a picture of the young shoots of the rambutan tree in her latest post titled, "New Growths New Life!

Do try the rambutan when you visit Malaysia!

Do you have a rambutan story to tell?

Wishing all my Hindu friends,

Happy Deepavali!

Updated: 1st Feb 2013

The following are some pictures of a matured, fruiting rambutan tree taken in Kampung Baru Kampung Timah in Tanjung Tuallang.

Biodiversity and Conservation at KLCC Park

Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) is a major tourist attraction in Malaysia. The famous Petronas Twin Towers and Suria KLCC are both located here in its vicinity. Petronas Twin Towers was the world's tallest building from 1998-2004. It was featured in the 1999 Holywood Blockbuster movie Entrapment starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones. It was also the target for French “Spiderman” Robert Alain Philippe to scale their height of which he was fined RM 2,000 for trespass in September 2009.

Although I have been to KLCC (KL Convention Centre) and Suria KLCC many times, especially during SALE time, I have only discovered KLCC Park late last year. When I visited Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth, I remember lamenting how I wished our country has a beautiful park. Now, I realised how ignorant I had been in the past, as all this while we do have one. It was just that I didn't know.

KLCC Park is a beautiful landscaped garden designed by reknown Brazilian landscape architect, the late Mr Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994). It is reputed to be his last masterpiece. Roberto Burle Marx was a very talented master of gardens who wore many hats. He was painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician. He is famed for imparting a sense of timelessness and perfection in his works.

A trip to KLCC Park begins with a walk down this 43 metre long elevated bridge (above). It is along this bridge that visitors get to enjoy some of the most splendid views of the magnificient Petronas Twin Towers and Suria KLCC. This is also the most popular spot among tourists for photo shoots.

KLCC Park is spread over 50 acres (20 hectares) of land. There is also a 1.3 km jogging track laid with EPDM around the park.

When the late Roberto Burle Marx designed the park, his intention was to "leave the world a little more sensitive and a little more educated to the importance of nature".

“Biodiversity and Conservation at KLCC Park”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on August 27th, 2010.

In the design and built-up of KLCC Park, key consideration was given to environmental factors such as conservation and biodiversity.

When the Selangor Turf Club was relocated to Sg Besi in the early 1990s, a total of about 23 of the mature and rare trees were saved and transplanted on the park. When KLCC Park was launched in 1998, there were about 1,900 indigeneous trees and 66 species of palms which had been carefully selected to encourage biodiversity and provide a haven for birds and local fauna.

Scientific name: Ficus nitida

Family: Moraceae

Distribution: Southeast Asia and India

This is the Indian Laurel Tree whose habitat is found in regions with warm moist conditions and plenty of light. The signage read as follows:

• It is a small tree with a dense crown, erect branches and arial roots
• It buttresses in its natural habitat
• Fruits are small, produced in pairs from the axils of the leaves
• Flowers are found inside the fruit
• The young leaves are yellowish green and smooth
• It is commonly used as an ornamental tree for street planting, as a hedge, shaped into topiary of various forms and as an indoor potted plant.

Scientific name: Ficus elastica

Family: Moraceae

Distribution: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, India

Common name: Bunuh Seteruh, Nyatu, Indian Rubber Tree

• It thrives in poor soil, epiphytes in nature, often on branches of other trees
• It belongs to the 'strangling trees' group thriving on host tree
• A largew spreading tree that grows up to 15m with long drooping branches and aerial roots developing from trunk and main branches
• Fruits are smal and yellowish green
• Flowers inside the fruits
• It was a source of rubber before the era of Hevea braziliensis, the present rubber trees
• The young leaves were eaten as salads in Indonesia
• It is commonly used as an indoor plant

Scientific name: Dillenia excelsea

Family: Dilleniaceae

Distribution: Malaysia, Indonesia

Common name: Simpoh Ungu, Purple Simpuh

• It's habitat is the lowland forest
• A medium sized tree that grows up to 25m
• The leaves are glossy green and margin slightly serrated
• Flower buds are rose red, opening to bright yellow with purple stamens and pinkish style
• The flower faces upwards
• Fruits are waxy white and later split open with red seeds.

Scientific name: Cyrtostachys renda

Family: Palmae / Arecoideae

Distribution: Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands

Common name: Lipstick Palm, Pinang Raja, Sealing Wax Palm, Red Palm

• It's habitat is the tropical peat swamp forest and river estuaries
• It is an attractive clustered palm with slender stems that grows up to 10m with a scarlet crown shaft and leaf stalks
• The flowers are small and green
• The fruits are small, egg-shaped, green ripening to black
• It is widely used for landscaping in parks, it is also a good container plant
• The aborigines made blowpipe darts from the outer wood of the stem
• Leaves of the palm were used together with other plants to ward-off earth demons when opening a new land clearing

The fruits of the indigeneous trees attract local and migratory birds. Coupled with a conducive green environment, it is hoped that this place will become an important link to the bird wildlife corridors of the region.

The following is a list of trees with proper labels at KLCC Park:

1. Cassia Trees
• 
  
  Pink Cassia aka Javanese Cassia / Apple Blossom Cassia (Cassia javanica)
• 
  
  Yellow Cassia (Cassia spectabilis)
• 
  
  Golden Showy Cassia aka Devils Finger (Cassia floribunda/Senna floribunda)
• 
  
  Golden Shower Tree aka Indian Laburnum (Cassia fistula)
2. 
   
   Purple Simpuh Tree (Dillenia excelsa)
3. 
   
   Indian Laurel Tree (Ficus nitida) 
4. 
   
   Butter Fruit Tree / Buah Salat / Buah Mentega (Diospyros blancoi)
5. 
   
   Elephant's Apple / Simpoh India Tree (Dillenia indica)
6. 
   
   Camphor / Kapur Tree (Dryobalanops aromatica)
7. 
   
   Rambutan Fruit Tree (Nephelium lappaceum) aka Tico Berry
8. 
   
   Indian Rubber Tree / Bunuh Seteruh / Nyatu (Ficus elastica)
9. 
   
   Orange Champaca / Chempaka Merah Tree (Michelia champaca)
10. 
    
    Ylang-Ylang / Kenaga Tree (Canaga odorata)
11. 
    
    Gebang / Ibas / Buri Palm (Corypha utan)
12. 
    
    Red Palm / Lipstick Palm / Sealing Wax Palm / Pinang Raja (Cyrtostachys renda)
13. 
    
    Jenaris / Tulang Daing Tree (Milletia atopurpurea)
14. 
    
    Mempari Tree (Pongamia pinnata)
15. 
    
    Yellow Saraca / Gapis Tree (Saraca taipingensis / Saraca cauliflora)

* Click on the links to visit my post about this tree.

Walking around the park at certain areas, I saw different types of birds feeding on some fruits high up in the trees. Some are black or brown and some are quite colourful. I saw sunbirds, magpies, pigeons, sparrows, mynas and starlings. Some of the more colourful ones, I don't know their names. How I wish I had a DSLR camera to capture these beautiful birds.

I also notice that bald-headed mynas are getting more and more popular around cities here. Do you know what causes this phenomenon? I mean, do they get bald as a result of fighting among themselves or due to the polluted environment?

This view is taken from the Children's Pool area. This pair of dolphins and a whale sculpture is one of the ornamental water features of Lake Symphony which is programmed to feature water fountain displays following a Symphony Overture sequence at regular intervals.

The Lake Symphony fountains are scheduled to be on from 12 noon to 2:00pm and 6.00pm to 11.00pm on weekdays and from 10.00am till midnight on weekends and public holidays.

The park is equiped with various amenities such as shelters, benches, rest areas, drinking fountains and public toilets at convenient locations. There is also a Children's Playground next to the Children's Pool.

The Children's Pool opening hours are as follows:
Tuesday  to Fridays 10:00am to 7:30pm
Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays 10:00am to 9:30pm
It is closed for maintenance on Mondays if it is not a public or school holidays.

During school holidays, the pool is opened throughout the week.

You can find beautiful yellow cassia trees at the end of the elevated bridge and also at the children's pool.

The Children's Playground has been laid with EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Deine Modified) Rubber, a child-safe material. Hence, eating, drinking and smoking are strictly prohibited here.

This is a patch of Arachis pintoi which is a vigorous creeper with bright yellow flowers that bloom in the morning. This species is a popular ornamental ground cover for gardens here. In Malay, it is called 'pokok kacang kuning'.

Finally, I end my post here with another view of the Petronas Twin Towers in the background behind the Yellow Cassia trees of KLCC Park.

I would like to dedicate this post to Sihame from Belgium who visited Malaysia early this year. She wrote to me asking about the beautiful Lipstick Palms (Cyrtostachys renda) of KLCC Park.

Sihame, WELCOME TO MALAYSIA!    I hope you will visit my country again.
Welkom ! (Dutch), Bienvenu ! (French), Willkomen ! (German)

This is my entry for Fertilizer Friday, the link is here.
For Today's Flowers, the link is here.
For My World Tuesday, the link is here.

The Yellow Saraca thaipingensis Tree At KLCC Park

This is one of our gorgeous indigeneous trees that are preserved at the beautiful KLCC Park. It bears bright yellow flowers that appear intermitently on the trunk and larger branches. The flowers which turn from yellow to orange to red as they mature look like big cauliflowers. These 'cauliflowers' measure up to 17 inches. The tree is medium sized. It can grow to a height of 15-20 ft with a spread of 8-10ft.

“The Yellow Saraca Thaipingensis Tree At KLCC Park”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on August 19th, 2010.

Scientific name: Saraca cauliflora

Synonym: Saraca thaipingensis

Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)

Native to: Malaysia and Indonesia

Common names: Yellow Saraca, Yellow Ashoka, Handkerchief Tree

Malay name: Pokok Gapis or Gapis tree

Category: Evergreen tree

The signage at KLCC Park reads as follows:
Habitat: Found along forest streams, in damp but well-drained grounds.
The tree is from the Taiping town (in Perak state, Malaysia)
A spreading tree that grows up to 10m with a dense crown. It has large leaves.
Flowers are clustered, apricot-yellow, fragrant.
Seedpods are large, flat and dark-purplish red.
The timber is used for temporary light constructions, packing cases and wooden pallets.
The roots are used to make 'parang' (a Malaysian machete) handles.

This tree is grown for its beautiful foliage and flowers. The new leaves are pink or purplish in colour and they are produced in flushes, appearing soft and hanging limply from the branches, earning the name "Hankerchief Trees". Later the leaves will stiffen up and turn green within a week or so.

Grow in full sun to partial shade. Propagation is by seeds. Can be grown as an ornamental tree in gardens for its foliage and flowers.

I extremely delighted to receive a bounty of seeds sent by Wendy of Greenish Thumb blog. I was one of the lucky recipient of her First Blogiversary Giveaway. I am ecstatic and jumping with joy. Yay, yay yay! This is the first time I am receiving real seeds sent all the way from a foreign country, i.e. from Maryland, USA! Wow!

Today, I would like to dedicate this post to Wendy and I also have a Chinese legend to tell.

This picture was taken at the Art Gallery of Perak Cave Temple, Ipoh.

It is a hand painting by an artist and it depicts a fairy from heaven.

A Chinese Valentine's Day: A Late Summer's Tale

On Monday, August 16th, 2010 was the 7th day of the 7th month of the Lunar Calendar. Long ago, until the mid 20th century, we celebrated this 'Valentine' festival of romance between "The Cowherd And The Weaving Girl".

It is the story of a fairy princess from heaven, the grandaughter of the Heavenly Mother. She was Weaving Girl and the clouds in the sky are her handiwork. Bored with life in heaven, one day, she got into mischief and came down to earth with her 6 other sisters. She was the 7th and the youngest. In the events that followed, she was accidently left on Earth where she met a young and handsome cowherd called Niulang and both of them fell in love. They had a pair of kids, a girl and a boy but their happiness was shortlived. As it was against the rule for a Fairy Princess to marry an earthling, The Heavenly Mother was very angry when she found out and the pair of lovers were forcefully separated. Seeing the heartbroken Niulang, his ox began to talk and asked Niulang to slaughter it and put on its hide so that he could fly to heaven. When Niulang reached heaven, The Heavenly Mother was very angry to see him. She used her hairpin to scratch a wide river in the sky to separate the lovers. The river became The Milky Way with Weaving Girl on one side (the star Vega) and Niulang (the star Altair) taking care of their kids on the other side, forever separated. The magpies took pity on them and once a year, all the magpies in the world will gather together to form a bridge in heaven so that the lovers can be reunited again on this single night of the 7th day of the 7th lunar month.

You can find more details about this 2,000 year old legend by clicking this link: Wikipedia, Qixi Festival, (七夕节).

In the prayer ritual which my grandmother told me, ladies used makeup, flowers, fruits, sweet cakes and sewing/embroidery kits to pray to Weaving Girl, wishing to be blessed with beauty, excellent living skills and a good husband. Gentlemen used clothes, comb and wallet to pray to Niulang for good looks, job opportunities, money and a good wife.

At this age and time, this festival is no longer practised and almost forgotten in Malaysia but it is still celebrated in Taiwan, China and maybe Hong Kong.

We may see the story retold in movies and drama serials. In the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid, Jackie Chan's character attends this festival with his female friend and sees the story reenacted in a shadow play.

This is my entry for Fertilizer Friday. To visit other great FF posts, please visit here.
This is also my entry for Today's Flowers, please visit here.

Preview to KLCC Park - Wordless Wednesday

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This post is dedicated to my blotanist friend, LeSan from Blue Gate Gardens, my first commenter for my previous post. I so am captivated by the creative way she writes her posts, I suspect that she is a Hollywood screenwriter. I'll be hopping over to her blog for some nice chrismassy atmosphere.

To view other WW posts or to participate, please click here.

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.