Saga (HT 2001 19)

Reference ID
HT 2001-19

Scientific name: Adenanthera pavonina
Family name: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Girth: 4.68 m @ 1.3 m height
Height: 13.1 m

Location
Singapore Botanic Gardens,
near Frangipani Garden

The Saga can grows up to 25 metres in height, with brown-grey bark and a spreading, rounded crown. The tree is naturally found from India, Sri Lanka through to Southeast Asia and Queensland, Australia. In its natural habitat, the tree is deciduous, shedding its fine bipinnate leaves annually although it does so briefly every 6-8 months in Singapore.

Its small creamy yellow, inconspicuous star-shaped flowers give way to dark brown fruits pods, which then twist and open to expel small, hard scarlet seeds. The attractive seeds are eagerly gathered by children to play with and for playing games, such as congkak. Despite being a common shade tree in our landscape, the Saga is not a native species to Singapore.

The introduction of the Saga first came about as an experiment of suppressing Lalang between 1883 to 1885 by Nathaniel Cantley, the then-superintendent of Singapore Botanic Gardens. Henry Nicholas Ridley later planted this species to provide shade to nutmegs trees and shade out grass. It was only in the 1970s and 1980s that the species became a common roadside tree. The earliest recorded Herbarium specimen taken from this tree was dated in 1900, so this tree would well be over 100 years old.

For more information on this species, please refer to NParks Flora & Fauna Web profile here.

Gallery

Heritage Tree in 2024
(📷: Hazri Boey)

Saga Tree near Frangipani Garden close to the Tanglin Entrance in October 1969 (Photo courtesy of Singapore Botanic Gardens Library Archives)