Orange Jasmines of Fairy Point Chalet
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Scientific name: Murraya paniculata
Family name: Rutaceae |
Location
Andover Road, Fairy Point Chalet 7, beside the BBQ pits |
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| ⛔ Please note that this Heritage Tree is only accessible to chalet guests. | |||||||||||
The Orange Jasmine is native to Southern and Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and New Caledonia. A compact evergreen shrub that typically grows to 2.5 to 3.5 m tall, it can occasionally become a tree reaching up to about 12 m in height, as this remarkable specimen highlights.
The Orange Jasmine has a dense growth form and blooms year-round, making it an excellent hedge plant for screening. Its compound leaves are alternate and pinnate, with three to seven dark green and glossy leaflets. Its small and white flowers are produced in abundance and have a very pleasant fragrance.
Birds like the Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier), Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis), and Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) are attracted by the fleshy and bright red fruit and help to disperse the seeds after feeding on the fruit.
These Heritage Trees were likely planted after the Fairy Point Chalets were built in the late 1920s as residences for senior British officers and were thought to have stood here for more than 70 years. The first Orange Jasmine Heritage Tree had a girth of 2.6 m when endorsed in 2018, while the second Orange Jasmine has a girth of 2 m when endorsed in 2019.
For more information on this species, please refer to NParks' Flora & Fauna Web profile here.
