Torch Ginger Singapore Flower. Happy Easter!

Its botanical name is Etlingera elatior. It is known in Indonesian as bunga kecombrang or honje, in Malaysia as bunga kantan. The showy pink flowers are used in decorative arrangements while the flower buds are an important ingredient in the Nonya dish laksa.

Etlingera elatior (Zingiberaceae family) is widely cultivated in tropical countries and used as spices and food flavoring.

Etlingera elatior has also been well known for its medicinal properties among indigenous communities in Malaysia. Decoction prepared from the fruit of Etlingera elatior has been used to treat ear ache and the leaves have been used in wound healing. The young flower shoot of Etlingera elatior was reported to have antimicrobial, cytotoxic and anti-tumor promoting properties. Etlingera elatior inflorescence is known to have high antioxidant properties. Flower extract of Etlingera elatior has powerful antioxidant effect against lead - induced oxidative stress and the extract may be useful therapeutic agent against lead toxicity.

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Butterfly Pea Singapore Flower

Its botanical name is Clitoria ternatea. Native to SE Asia. Traditionally, the flowers are crushed to produce a blue dye used in food preparation. The root extract is used to treat coughs.

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Madagascar Periwinkle Singapore Flower

Its botanical name is Catharanthus roseus. Native to Madagascar. In the pharmaceutical industry, vincristine and vinblastine from the sap have proven to be effective in the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. It is traditionally used to treat diabetes, hypertension and as a disinfectant.

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Heliconia Psittacorum Andromeda

Its common name is Parakeet Flower.

Parakeet flower is an everblooming, tropical plant that produces an abundance of bright flowers above clumps of lush, evergreen leaves. It is native to South America. It looks great all year around.

This vigorous ornamental spreads by rhizomes and has long, banana-like leaves that are dark green and tatter easily in strong winds. The flowers are borne atop long, smooth, green flower stalks that are held above the leaves. They are comprised of red, orange-red or orange showy bracts that hold small, tubular flowers. Each true flower may be yellow, red, orange or green and have a dark spot at the end, which makes it look like a parrot’s tongue.

Parakeet flower grows best in full sun to partial shade and organic-rich, evenly moist soil with good drainage. In tropical zones it is grown as a landscape plant. Its elegant, tropical flowers are long lasting when cut and look great in bright, colorful arrangements.

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Cat Wiskers Singapore Flower

Its botanical name is Orthosiphon aristatus. Native to tropical Eastern Asia. It is traditionally used to treat kidney ailments, gout, hypertension, rheumatism and jaundice.

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Costus Dubius Singapore Flower

This African Costus is commonly cultivated as an ornamental. The clump-forming, leafy stems are 2-3 m high. the egg-shaped inflorescence made of tightly arranged green bracts is elevated on a separate peduncle. One or two white and yellow flowers open at the same time.

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Yellow Bell Singapore Flower

Its botanical name is tecoma stans. Yellow bell singapore flower has sharply-toothed, lance-shaped green leaves and bears large, showy, bright golden yellow trumpet-shaped flowers. It is drought-tolerant and grows well in warm climates. The flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

The leaves and roots of the plant contain bioactive compounds, especially monoterpenes, which may have medicinal uses.

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Marina Bay Sands

A night shot of Marina Bay Sands hotel with the supertree structure at the foreground and the crescent moon behind.

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Blue Water Lily

Its botanical name is Nymphaea. This blue water lily has several edible parts. The young leaves and unopened flower buds can be boiled and served as a vegetable. The seeds, high in starch, protein, and oil, may be popped, parched, or ground into flour.

The main plant is submerged, with large floating, plate-like leaves and showy flowers in many different colours. The leaves have a radial notch from the circumference to the petiole (leaf stem) in the center.

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Amaryllis

The biological name is Hippeastrum Vittatum Hybrid from the Amaryllidaceae family, is a large bulb producing spectacular trumpet-shaped blooms on hollow stalks. The large strap shaped leaves reach up to 0.9 m tall by 7.5 cm wide. They are very easy to grow and make spectacular house plants.

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Maranta Leuconeura

Maranta leuconeura var kerchoveana. Also called prayer plant. This small, branched plant with dark blotches between the leaf veins, found creeping on the ground in shady habitats, is a native of Brazil. The plant is popular and commonly cultivated in temperate countries as a house plant for its beautiful, ornamental leaves.

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Calathea Warszewiczii 2

Another capture of this beautiful Calathea warszewiczii flower. Its ornamental leaves with a velvety feel are the major attraction of this Calathea. The flowers are white, but the colour of the bracts ranges from white to deep pink. It was named for Jozef Warszewicz, a Polish-Lithuanian plant collector who worked in South America and later became Inspector of the botanic gardens in Krakow.

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Calathea Warszewiczii

Its ornamental leaves with a velvety feel are the major attraction of this Calathea. The flowers are white, but the colour of the bracts ranges from white to deep pink. It was named for Jozef Warszewicz, a Polish-Lithuanian plant collector who worked in South America and later became Inspector of the botanic gardens in Krakow.

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Buddha Belly Plant

Native to Guatemala. All parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested. The seed oil is used to reduce swellings, for pain relief and to detoxify snakebites.

The stem is swollen into vasculum at the base and filled with thin sap. The plant bears bright red coral-like flowers throughout the year. The plant contains the toxic curcin, making it poisonous.

Jatropha podagrica is also known for its incredible ability to attract a variety of butterflies wherever it is grown.

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Hibiscus mutabilis flower

Also known as "Cotton rosemallow" from the Malvaceae family, it is native to Southern China.

Traditionally, the leaves and flowers are used to treat swellings and skin infections. Mucilage (a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants) extracted from the leaves and flowers are used to ease childbirth.

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Yellow Allamanda

The name "allamanda" is named after a Swiss botanist Dr. Frederich Allamanda. However, there are many regional names such as Yellow Bell, Golden Trumpet or Buttercup Flower.

Allamandas likes to grow in full sun next to fresh water with lots of consistent rain. The allamada does not like shade and can not grow in salty or alkaline soils.

Consistently blooming shrub like plant an Allamanda is fully capable of reaching heights more then 6� feet. The leathery citrus like leaves are pointed and lance shaped. The yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers are 2-3 inches in diameter. Though yellow is the most common color for an Allamanda, there are other colors such as white, purple, pink or orange.

Children and animals should never be allowed near an allamandas plant because all parts of the plant contain Allamandin. If ingested, Allamandin can be deadly. The sap inside an Allamanda will cause the development of rashes and sometimes blisters for non internal contact.

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Yellow Frangipani (Plumeria Stenophylla)

Yellow frangipani or plumeria stenophylla flower. Plumeria's are a tropical flowering tree, sometimes called "frangipani" in the plant family APOCYNACEAE, Though tropical by nature, when protected from frost, they are well suited to subtropical or temperate climates.

Plumeria are valued as landscape plants, ornamentals, and for their flowers. The flowers come in seemingly endless variety of color, size and fragrance.

The Plumeria flowers are more fragrant at night in order to attract pollinators. Plumeria species can propagated by taking a cutting of leafless stem tips in spring, letting them "scab over" and then inserted into soil. They can be propagated by tissue culture or from germinated seeds.

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Flying Snake

This is a very long yellow colored snake put up above the street in Chinatown to welcome the year of the snake in 2013.

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Pink Frangipani (Plumeria rubra)

Pink Frangipani (Plumeria rubra).  Plumeria commemorates Charles Plumier, a 17th-century French botanist who described several tropical species. Plumeria rubra is a tree that grows in a “candelabrum” shape typical of Plumerias with a single trunk and multiple branches of a similar length that support an open spreading canopy. The tree can reach a height of 9m, though they are generally much smaller. Most plumerias in gardens are hybrids. Plumerias are very salt tolerant.

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