CentralBinjai2003

Binjai (HT 2003-89)

This Heritage Tree can be found at Spottiswoode Park Road, opposite Oakswood Heights.

Large tree in front of a modern building with grass and people walking on a path in an urban setting.

Heritage Tree with foliage (📷: Heritage Tree Secretariat)

Heritage Tree Information

Reference ID
HT 2003-89

Scientific name: Mangifera caesia
Family name: Anacardiaceae
Girth: 3.65 m @ 1.3 m height
Height: 28.4 m

Location
Spottiswoode Park Road, opp Oakswood Heights
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The Binjai is a large tree that grows up to 45 m in height. Its trunk is columnar, without buttresses, and with grey-ish bark that exudes irritant sap. Its crown is dense and dome-shaped, and its leaves are large and leathery.

The tree flowers profusely around April to June, colouring the canopy with light purple inflorescences. Related to Mango (Mangifera indica) (opens in new tab) and Horse Mango (Mangifera foetida) (opens in new tab), the Binjai can be distinguished from the other species by its pale-lilac flowers, and pale-brown, rough-skinned fruits.

Spottiswoode Park used to be a nutmeg plantation in the 1840s before it was converted into bungalow-like residences with a garden-like setting for employees of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company (the present Port of Singapore Authority) in the early 1900s. The residents or estate managers during that period may have planted this Binjai tree for its sourish-sweet fruits, which could be eaten as a tamarind substitute, or used as ingredients in sambal or rojak.

For more information on this species, please refer to NParks' Flora & Fauna Web profile. (opens in new tab)