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Some Historical Notes

The evolution of Singapore into a city of gardens has been a long process going back over centuries, with the immigration of its plants paralleling the arrival of its varied population. It was influenced by outside forces, notably the search for rare spices by explorers from distant Europe, which in time led to colonization, and also by the changing tastes and interests of those who elected to settle here, most remarkably in the past 40 years.

Though Singapore's history can be traced back to the 14th century, very little is known about its vegetation. What records exist state that the island was covered with thick jungle and had fine timber trees suitable for ship-building. This is unsurprising in view of the fact that Singapore and the Malay Peninsula share the same tropical rainforest and mangrove swamp forest with fringes of coconut trees. Before the first Europeans arrived, there was active trade with China and India and points farther west, as well as links with the vast Indo-Malay Archipelago. By the time Sir Stamford Raffles founded the Settlement in 1819, Malay inhabitants were living in villages near the coast and some Chinese in the interior were cultivating gambier (Uncaria gambier) and pepper. Among the trees and plants in the dense jungle that covered the island were some that later gave their Malay names to parts of modern Singapore: Tampines (Streblus elongatus) for instance, as well as Kranji (Dialium), Tanjong Rhu (Casuarina), Katong (Cynometra malaccensis) and Tengah (Ceriops).

The earliest plant immigrants of which there are extant records and anecdotes were economic crops. Raffles, perhaps fuelled by his own keen interest in natural history, promoted agricultural development as well as trade. In the grounds of the first Government Residence on Fort Canning, then known to the Malays as Bukit Larangan or Forbidden Hill, he planted nutmeg (Myristicafragrans), a much-coveted spice that was thought to be native to only five small islands in the Moluccas and some cloves (Syzgium aromaticum). When the jungle was cleared to build the Residence on Forbidden Hill, some fruit trees were discovered. The Malay Annals, a 17th-century account of Malay history, state: "In performing this work, they found numbers of fruit trees of all descriptions such as durian trees that two men could barely girth with their arms so extremely old were they. There were also duku trees, orange trees, langsat trees and trees with bad smelling fruit as the petal (Parkia speciosa) and the jering (Pithecellobium jiringa)". These are all found today in any domesticated setting in the Malay Peninsula. None, however, is included in the present vegetation on Fort Canning hill, where the only plants that may remain from early times are small like the little creeper Geophila. Its presence was recorded by Charles de Alwis, a botanical artist at the Botanical Gardens who worked at the beginning of the 20th century; it can still be seen growing near the Registry of Muslim marriages on the hill.

Piper nigrum, the source of both 'black' and 'white' pepper was one of the first spices that began the search for the Spice Islands.

Nutmeg and its companion Mace. Myristica fragrans and clove trees were planted by Raffles on Government Hill.

Syzygium malaccensis, the Malay Apple or Jumbu bol. The tree is of medium height, conical in shape with glossy large leaves, large pink showy flowers and bright crimson fruit.

Lansium domesticum, the Duku or Langsat, an indigenous fruit that was recorded by the Malay Annals as existing in Singapore in 1819.

Three young fruits of the Jackfruittree (Artocarpus Heterophyllus).

Durio zebitlninus or the Durian, arguably the most famous fruit in the Malay Archipelago, was recorded as growing on Frobidden Hill at the time of Raffles.

The two archival photos show immigrant Chinese farmers in Singapore in 1890 (the group) and 1920 (the single farmer). The former depicts tobacco and pepper crops; in the latter, the farmer is tilling a raised bed which is the traditional way in which fast-growing Chinese leafy vegetables are grown.

Garcinla mangostana. A popular fruit, the Mangosteen was once the subject of a clipper race to see who could get the fruit to Queen Victoria first.

Nephelium lappaceum. The Rambutan is one of the most attractive of indigenous fruits.

From 1836 onwards, when sugar and cotton were introduced for commercial cultivation, many other crops were grown in Singapore. Among these were indigenous plants like gambier and pepper and such introduced ones as nutmeg, coffee, cloves, sugar cane, tobacco and pineapples. Most of the introduced crops eventually failed, either because the soil or the climate was found to be unsuitable or because disease wiped out the enterprise. However, street names still commemorate these early attempts at agriculture: Nutmeg Road, Orange Grove Road, Orchard Road, for example, are very much still in existence, as are D'Almeida Street, Balestier Road, Dunman Road, Oxley Road, Prinsep Street and Scotts Road, all named after the men who tried to cultivate such crops. Here and there in various parts of Singapore, more tangible remains can be found. In a former cemetery in the Bukit Timah district there are two mature nutmeg trees, and in the same area, near the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, five venerable clove trees grew until they were unfortunately destroyed in the recent construction of a condominium.

These agricultural efforts resulted in the progressive destruction of the native forest. Gambier required firewood to boil the leaves in order to extract the saleable substance; so huge numbers of trees were cut down for fuel. The cultivation of pepper went hand in hand with that of gambier, since once the leaves had been boiled for their extract they were used as an essential fertilizer for the pepper vines.

More land was required for "pineries", commercial smallholdings that grew pineapples. According to a writer in the 1860s, they were the staple fruit for European dinner tables. The pineapple was a notable immigrant from the New World; no one knows who introduced it to Asia, but by 1856 it was a significant crop in Singapore. An account of the agriculture of the Settlement states that it was extensively grown west of the harbour by Bugis people. A Pineapple Industry Ordinance was passed in 1934 to control it and a variety called "Singapore Red" was developed.

European residence at the end of the 1800s: the type of garden is typical of the time. Note the topiary bush, clipped into the shape of a bird, and the prolific Antigonon leptopus growing up to the first floor.

Later European house in the "Black-and-White" style in the Botanic Gardens shows the Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera), the largest fan palm in the world, in the foreground.

As the population grew and the town expanded, more permanent houses were built. The homes of European residents are always described as being out of town, spacious and surrounded by gardens, with an abundance of fruit trees. Descriptions of the viands offered at dinner tables list the native rambutan, mangosteen, duku, and banana as well as the exotic pineapple, the papaya, and various kinds of Annonas. These fruit trees were planted after the failure of many of the plantation ventures and as late as the mid-1880s. But ornamental plants, too, were by then part of the scene. With the development of the Settlement from its early frontier town character to a more organized and prosperous town and with the increasing number of women coming to Singapore, the idea of gardening, at least among the European population, had arrived.

Singapore was governed from India until 1867, so it is probable that seeds and cuttings came from there, particularly from Calcutta. Writing in the 1840s, Dr Thomas Oxley lists many ornamentals in local gardens, among them Acacia, Agave, Allamanda, Barleria, Bignonia, Clerodendrum, Crinum, Cassia, Erythrina, Dracaena, assorted Ficus, Gardenia, Hibiscus, Jatropha, Lantana, Murraya, Nerium, Plumbago, Plumeria, Quisqualis, and Yucca - a fine mix of indigenous as well as introduced plants. There was also contact with other tropical botanic gardens, some ruled by powers other than the British. The Calcutta Botanic Garden was under Nathaniel Wallich, a Dane, who was to play an important role in the development of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Plant species moved unhindered from one colony to another, from East to West, and vice versa. In this way, Singapore received rather early in its modern life a great number of plants that were indigenous to other parts of the world.

European group, 1890s. Their gardens were typically laid out with lawns, hedges and tennis courts.

Photogravure by CJ Kleingrothe depicts the Botanic Gardens road at the end of the 1890s. By this time many plants would have arrived in Singapore through the Botanic Gardens. Photos top left and far right courtesy of Antiques of the Orient.

The gardens of the Europeans were laid out with lawns, hedges, and tennis courts. James Cameron, an English resident, wrote that the hedges were of Bamboo and wild Heliotrope; the latter was very likely Duranta repens or D. procumbens, the flowers of which greatly resemble Heliotrope in colour, scent and form. Tennis court fencing was covered by a pale lavender Ipomoea and Passiflora laurifolia that grew very quickly. There are no extant garden books or newspaper articles written by English-women in Singapore before the 1950s, but some written earlier in the Malay States display the same longing for the flowers of 'home' and 'homelike' displays as those written by the Memsahibs of India in the days of the Raj. All discuss the kind of flowers that are associated with the English cottage garden that they tried to grow 'out East'. It is not surprising that Dr Oxley's list includes many flowers that are traditionally associated with this style of garden.

This feeling of something from 'home' is also displayed by the Chinese, Indian and Indonesian immigrants who came to Singapore over the years. Immigrant communities very often carry with them plants, seeds or cuttings of two major kinds. The first of these, almost always scented, are votive plants used in rituals, as offerings to deities, as 'good luck' plants and on ceremonial occasions. Among them is Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, the 'Sad Tree', a native Indian tree which forms part of Hindu and Buddhist ritual offerings. The scented flowers are white and coral and bloom at night; by the dawn they have 'wept' onto the ground where devout ladies gather them for votive offerings. In Singapore it can be found in the Hindu and Buddhist temples in Ceylon Road and St Michael's Road. A shrub or small tree native to South China, Aglaia odorata is often planted in front of Chinese houses together with Platycladus orientalis. Both are 'good luck' plants, always placed side by side. Aglaia has minute yellow flowers that in the past were used to scent tobacco and was once called the 'tobacco flower'. Platycladus is a cypress, the lace-like fronds of which are placed within the gifts exchanged at Cantonese weddings by the bride and groom's families. A plant common to both Indian and Chinese cultures is Nelumbium, the lotus. Plumeria, the frangipani, a Mexican native, arrived in Singapore via an unknown intermediate source. It, too, is used in temple offerings. Other sweet-scented votive flowers include Michella champaca, Michehafigo and Vallaris, the latter being a favourite of Peranakan Nonyas (Straits-born Chinese women).

All the flowers in this tray are scented except for the lemon yellow Cosmos. All are commonly used for votive offerings and are, clockwise from top left, Tabernaemontana coro naria, Vallaris, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Cosmos, Hedychium gardenarium and Plumeria.

Ginger, Zingiber officinalis. About 400 members of the ginger family grow wild in tropical Asia, but this particular variety is known as ginger.

The second group of plants carried by immigrants consisted of those used for food and medicine. The Neem tree, Azadiracta indica, a veritable pharmacoepia by itself, came early to the Malay Peninsula from India. Ginger, Zingiber officinalis, so ancient in use that its place of origin is unknown, is used for both purposes, as is coriander and turmeric. Other introduced culinary herbs include lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), from South India, and various rhizomes and leaves of the Curcuma family.

Saracca taipingensis. Named after the town in Malaysia where it was first recorded, this is a leguminous tree that flowers in flushes with large masses of flowers that are the delight of bees. Large seed pods follow. The flowers range from a pale mustard colour to a deeper orange in different varieties.

Nelumbium, the lotus, a flower associated with many religions and which appears in art, food and architecture.

Duranta repens or D. procumbens. Wrongly identified in the early days of Singapore as Heliotrope, an understandable error as it closely resembles the Heliotrope. It has sweetly scented flowers, followed by golden trusses of berries.

Gardens of the past reflected these ethnic tastes. The more well-off Chinese, particularly the Peranakans, had spacious houses by the seaside in the Katong district. A characteristic feature of these homes were plants in large, decorative Chinese clay or porcelain pots, in which were planted, according to the fashion of the day, Adeniums (native to the dry climate of Aden) or Spathoglottis (native to the Malay archipelago). The bright-yellow Oncidium "Golden Shower", a local hybrid, also enjoyed a great vogue.

The Indian population tended to live in town or on rural estates in the interior, and plants with an especially Indian character were to be found around their homes. Among these were the drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera), various gourds for the Indian vegetarian diet, and the curry leaf (Murraya koenigii), Piper betele, the masticatory leaf, as well as such ornamentals as Tabernaemontana and marigold (for offerings) and a crimson rose of unknown origin, also used by Malays who call it the Bunga mawar. This is the only rose that grows easily in Singapore. It is fully double with a strong sweet scent and has been used to make rose syrup. Rose syrup forms part of a non alcoholic drink popular among Muslims when mixed with milk called Syrup Bandung.

The middle classes of all ethnicities had similar gardens with a patch of lawn, flowering shrubs, bamboo clumps, or cannas in island beds or planted along driveways, perhaps an orchid enclosure or fern house. There were vogues for various plants from time to time, very much as happens in garden circles today Pink, lavender, and white forms of Spathoglottis, planted along driveways, were popular up until the 1950s when a craze for the yellow form from the Philippines arrived. Helicoma psittacorum, called Japanese canna even up to the 1950s, was common in the 1930s, as were hedges of the 'shoe flower' (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), a thin bamboo, Hymenocallis Crinum and the salmon-coloured Hippeastrum. All homes also had their kitchen herbs and plants. The Singapore Gardening Society aroused a greater interest in ornamental plants and nurseries were established to cater to it.