Yellow Flame (HT 2019 306)

Reference ID
HT 2019-306

Scientific name: Peltophorum pterocarpum
Family name: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Girth: 4.88 m @ 1.3 m height
Height: 21.2 m

Location
Mount Emily Park, near Upper
Wilkie Road round-about

The Yellow Flame is native to India and Sri Lanka, through Southeast Asia, including Singapore, to Northern Australia. It grows naturally on rocky, sandy shores and back mangroves.

It is a deciduous tree that can grow up to 35 m in height. It has a wide-spreading, umbrella-shaped crown and slightly rough light grey bark. Its leaves are bi-pinnate with many tiny leaflets. It produces bright yellow blooms which are about 3 cm in size and occur in bunches. Its fruit is a pod that is 5 to 10 cm long and ripens to a purplish brown colour.

While it is considered Critically Endangered in the wild in Singapore, it is widely planted along roadsides for its wide, shade-providing crown, and bright yellow blooms, which occasionally cover the entire tree.

In Java, the bark yields a yellow-brown dye that is used in batik. The bark is also reportedly used to treat dysentery and relieve sprains and muscle aches.

This Heritage Yellow Flame measured 4.8 m in girth when endorsed as a Heritage Tree in 2019. It is estimated to have stood here for more than 70 years.

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

Gallery

📷: Brendon Phuah