Jelutong (HT 2015 239)

Reference ID
HT 2015-239

Scientific name: Dyera costulata
Family name: Apocynaceae
Girth: 3.48 m @ 1.3 m height
Height: 26.9 m

Location
Singapore Botanic Gardens,
near Lower Ring Rd
(within rainforest)

The Jelutong is a emergent tree that is native to Singapore, and can grow to over 80 m tall. It can also be found naturally distributed in the forests of Southern Thailand, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and Borneo. Jelutong trees may be often recognised from their huge lofty crowns, commonly raised above the rest of the canopy. The crown is very unlike the Common Pulai (Alstonia angustiloba), being dense and dome-like, comprising many ascending limbs, each of which ends in a conical head of foliage. Its leaves are arranged in whorls, emerging in reddish-pink hue before turning green.

Its flowers are 5 petaled, tubular, and either white, yellowish-green or pinkish-yellow in colour. They bloom at night between 5 - 7 pm and fall off by the next morning. The fruit is woody follicle, arranged in a pair, up to 40 cm long, and splits upon maturity releasing flattened elliptic seeds with a membranous wing.

The latex tapped from the Jelutong is called gutta jelutong, and was once commonly used as the base for producing chewing gum. The wood of the Jelutong can be used to manufacture wood-cased pencils.

The genus Dyera was named after Sir William T. Thiselton-Dyer - a English botanist and former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The species epithet refers to costulatus, finely ribbed possibly in reference to the ribbed twigs.

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

Gallery

Canopy of Heritage Tree as viewed from Bandstand
(📷: Hazri Boey)