A Fruiting Manila Palm

I noticed the feathery fronds of this manila palm tree in Kuching last week. Manila palms were once the craze of landscapers especially in the mid 1980's when the government of Malaysia was on its greening campaign to beautify the roads and open spaces throughout the country's urban areas. It was a premier choice because of its size i.e. small to medium and attractive fruits. They were extensively planted on road medians,traffic islands, roundabouts, house garden and residential roads. Easily propagated from seeds and thrives well in Malaysia because from where it originated that is the Phillipines, the climate is almost similar.

The fruit when ripe shows a glossy red colour. Once the seeds are dried and sowed, it would normally take less than a month to germinate. I do have a couple of these palms at my garden and they do grow fast once established. I am always attracted to its twisted feather-like leaves and their appealing fruits. In Bintulu these fruits are sometimes chewed with betel leaves by older ladies and men as replacement for areca nuts.

Views of Mount Santubong

Late in the afternoon, we went to Damai Resort ,Santubong near Kuching. The half hour drive brought us through a picturesque countryside. Just as we were about to reach the resort, I saw the mountain slopes being hit by the late afternoon sun. I whisked my camera hand phone n931i and got the picture below.

On the return journey I caught another glimpse of the mountain peak. In the Malay language the word equivalent for mountain is 'gunung'. Thus this mountain which shares lots of legendary tales with the local inhabitants living around its plains, is referred to as 'Gunung Santubong'. And there is a popular folk song bearing the name 'Puteri Santubong" to mean the Princess of Mount Santubong. And the legend goes...( well need to be back here again to listen to the legend)....God willing.

These tall coconuts trees ( cocos nucifera) with their feather-like leaves amazes me.

Then, further down the road I had a closer look at the leaves in motion.Very tropical. Very romantic.

A Feather-leaved Palm

Encountered a feather-leaved palm fruiting at the car parking area of Taman Temasya , the popular picnic spot of Tanjung Batu, Bintulu. This palm is native to Northern Australia but grows excellently in Bintulu . Here they grow fast and in no time reaches 20 meters . The distinguishing feature is its bunchy mass of red fruits , a feature that makes it desirable as an ornamental palm for parks, roadsides or even homes. It is from these fruits that the palms are propagated in Bintulu,where the germination rate is very good ( almost 95%), according to my experience.