Medium sized tree to 15m or more. Leaves are alternate, with bipinnate, with 4 to 12 pairs of pinnae. Leaflets are oblong, to 1cm long, oblique, with blunt apex and dark green. Flowers are in terminal panicles, bright yellow; the petals are wrinkled and with reddish medium mark. Fruit is thin, flat, oblong pod. Indigenous to Thailand, Malay peninsula and Sumatra. Introduced to the Philippines probably after the Second World war. Commonly cultivated along streets and gardens in Manila.
Plumeria obtusa
Common name: Kalachuching puti. Shrub or small tree up to 5m tall. Stems and leaves are with milky sap. Leaves are dark green, obovate to oblong ovate and to 30cm long. Flowers are white, 5-lobed, with yellow center. Native to tropical America. Widely cultivated in the Philippines. Propagated by seeds or stem cuttings. Genus named after Charles Plumier, a distinguished French Botanist.
Plumeria rubra
Common name: Kalatsusti. Similar in appearance to P. alba except that the corolla is white, usually with yellow center, sometimes flushed rose outside.
Polyalthia longifolia
Common name: Indian lanutan. Small to medium sized tree growing to 15m tall. Yung plants are with straight trunks and drooping branches, the branches being longest at the base, and gradually becoming shorter at the end of the trunk, similar in gross appearance to a spindle. Leaves are narrow-oblanceolate, dark green, glossy, and with wavy margins. Flowers are delicate pale-green with wavy petals. Fruits are ovoid, black. Native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Recently introduced to the Philippines, now widely cultivated in the Metropolis. Planted as an accent plant in parks and gardens.
Psidium guajava
Shrub with numerous branches, to 8 m or taller; bark is thin, scally, and flaking; the young branches are 4-angled. Leaves are opposite, ovate-oblong to elliptic to 5 cm long, with entire margins and prominent lateral vains. Flowers are white, with 5 petals and numerous stamens. Fruit is globose or pear shaped berry, yellow when ripe; seeds are small and many. Indigenous to tropical America. Introduced to the Philippines during the early Spanish period. A hardy plant, that grows even in poor soil. Various cultivars were recently introduced to the Philippines and includes the “guava java” which bears extra large fruits to about 10 cm in diameter.
Pterocarpus indicus
Common name: Narra, smooth narra. Large tree, to 25m tall. Leaves are odd pinnate and to 30cm long. Leaflets are alternate, ovate, glossy, green and entire. Flowers are yellow and to 1.5cm long. Pods are indehiscent surrounded by a broad wing with one seed. Indigenous to south eastern Asia, a beautiful shade tree.
Ptychosperma macarthurii
Common name: Mac Arthur palm. Clustering, slender palm to 8m tall. Trunk is light gray, smooth ringed, to 5cm in diameter. Leaflets are in one plane, lanceolate, with irregularly jagged apex, to 30cm long; margins are ribbed. Flowers are small, numerous, borne on short branches below the leaves. Fruits are numerous, ovoid, turning red or reddish black when mature, to 1cm in diameter. Native to New Guinea. Introduced to the Philippines in the early 1900s. Widely cultivated throughout the Philippines. Propagated by seeds.