Singapore's Rain Trees

When I was a child, my favourite tree was the flame of the forest tree (Delonix regia). With its feathery compound leaves and striking scarlet flowers, it is a true head-turner. You could not pass a flowering flame of the forest without being taken by its incandescent beauty. The rain tree (Samanea saman) was probably a close second. Its leaves had not the delicacy of the flame of the forest’s, nor were its pink flowers as showy, but it had height and the most glorious and elegant umbrella-shaped crown. Its branches spread out as if they intended to embrace all the earth. There is something immensely welcoming about the rain tree, though perhaps I am conflating my overall sense of it with my youthful memories of seeing one after another lining the East Coast Parkway on my way home from Changi airport. They have become indelibly connected with my thoughts of homecoming. 

The rain tree is not native to Singapore, but it has now become a distinctive part of our physical landscape. Not only East Coast Parkway, but large swathes of our downtown civic district and a number of our older roads are lined with these majestic beings. As street trees, they do have to undergo pruning, which can result in a slightly stunted form, but as a gracious host for a number of epiphytes, even these more truncated trees are still a delight to the eye.

For a closer look at these wonderful trees, check out the stunning specimens in front of the Istana gates on Orchard Road (Singapore's main shopping drag). I have seen squirrels scurrying from branch to branch, and if you look up, you can see crown shyness (where the tips of a tree refrain from overlapping another tree) at work. The only caveat is that, with the Istana being the President’s official residence, if you loiter too long admiring the trees before the gates, the security guards do begin to wonder what you might be up to. 

Another good spot to enjoy these trees would be near the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) where a number line the Singapore river. A few more are dotted between the ACM and Victoria Theatre. You can grab a sandwich from Surrey Hills Deli (Raffles Place) at 6 Battery Road (the pulled pork and the pastrami sandwiches are expensive but great!) on the opposite side of the river and eat under the shade of a rain tree. On a nice day, it makes for pleasant al fresco lunch. You can admire the trees and people watch. Look out for the pesky crows though!

Botanical information

All street trees in Singapore are looked after by a government organisation called NParks and they have an excellent website with very thorough information on the trees of Singapore.

Here is the NParks’s rain tree entry.  

Here is the entry for the flame of the forest.

Other rain-tree-related activities

If you drive and have access to a car, you might want to try driving down Singapore's Heritage Tree Roads and soak in the lovely effects of a green tunnel made from rows of old rain trees. Check out Arcadia Road and Mandai Road.

A number of rain trees have also been designated as Heritage Trees by NParks due to their size and age. This one at the former Seletar Airbase is a magnificent specimen. Seletar, however, is quite off the beaten track for most (even for me, a resident of Singapore), so if you'd like to see other heritage rain trees in more accessible locations, I'd recommend checking out the ones at Fort Canning Park or in the Chinatown area (NParks has very handily created walking guides with maps so you can find the trees easily).