fruit trees at d'kranji farm resort

you may have read about padi being grown on this farm in lim chu kang in this posting by seenthisscenethat. i have also mentioned it in one of my posts. we do not have to step out of our little red dot to find out how rice and many other food crops and fruits are cultivated. we can learn about it at this farm in kranji where there is no admission charge.




if i had young children, i would definitely take them to visit this farm. there is so much to see and learn and it is all for free. apart from plots set aside for padi, there are also plots for sweet corn. lining the perimeters of the padi and corn plots are fruit trees and different types of plants.

apart from the more common fruit trees like the banana, jackfruit, mango, chiku, rambutan and durian, there are the not so common ones like the purple custard apple, kedongdong, pulasan, watermelon and soursop.








there are some fruit trees that most children may not have come across like the kedongdong, the custard apple and the pulasan, a cousin of the rambutan. some people prefer eating the pulasan to the rambutan because the flesh does not stick to the seed, and the seed is edible.

a new attraction at this farm resort resort is prawn fishing. the promotional charge for one hour of prawn fishing is $13.00.

flowering durian, rambutan and mangosteen trees

foreground, rambutan tree; background, durian tree

flowers of the durian tree

flowers from the rambutan tree

mangosteen flower

"did you notice two big durian trees next to st 13? they were flowering profusely." this comment by chun see of goodmorningyesterday reminded of the flowers on the durian trees at mandai. it also sets me wondering. how come durians like the 'cat mountain king' and 'd24' varieties are already available when the durian trees in the wild in singapore have just started flowering. (today, while on the way to admiralty road west, chun see decided to detour to show our overseas friends the flowering durian trees.)

it also meant that the rambutan, mangosteen and mango trees will be flowering because these fruits appear in abundance at the same time as the durians. at bukit batok nature park, i thought light rain was falling until i saw on the ground, many small flowers from the rambutan tree.

from afar, sometimes it is easy to mistake the flowers of the mango tree for those of the rambutan's. mango trees can also be found in the wild, in places like lim chu kang, bukit timah nature reserve and a number of the nparks.

on many of the bigger and older mangosteen trees along the roadside of neo tiew crescent, you can find flowers on the trees. it will take at least three months after the flowers have turned into fruit before they can be harvested. so far, i have not had the chance to see any ripe fruit on the mangosteen trees planted by the roadsides. they disappear from the trees before they turn purple.

this morning, when i was at telok blangah hill park, i saw a number of mature mangosteen trees. these trees should also be flowering and the young fruit would soon be seen on the trees. another place where i have seen mangosteen trees growing is the christian cemetery at lim chu kang.

the month of may is a good time to visit sungei rengit in south-eastern johor because by then the mango trees in the mango farms will be laden with the fruit.

roadside fruit trees of lim chu kang (3)

the jambu mawar (rose apple) trees are also found along neo tiew crescent as well as along one of the lane 6s - there are lanes 6, 6c, 6d and 6f. i am surprised that quite a number of adults have neither seen nor tasted its fruit. as a boy, i would help myself to this fruit on my neighbour's tree.

surprisingly, not many mango trees have been planted at lim chu kang. in fact, i have come across only three mango trees in the whole area. could they have been planted by mistake? over at sungei tengah end, the road is lined by many mango trees.

on the other hand, the langsat appears to be the most dominant tree among the varieties of roadside fruit trees at lim chu kang. the langsat's fruiting season usually coincides with the durian and mangosteen, sometime in the middle of the year.

the surinam cherry is not a common fruit tree. i do not think many singaporeans have tasted its fruit. when the fruit first appears on the tree, it is yellow. it becomes bright red when it is ripe. you should pluck it only when it is so ripe that a touch by your hand will cause the fruit to fall. you will come across some of these trees along the sides of lim chu kang lane 4.

the butterfruit is native to the philippines. a medium to large evergreen, its dense canopy reaches to a height of 25 m. its slightly scented flowers produce fruits which ripen from a pink to a deep red, and is usually eaten raw. characteristically, the fruits are covered with short reddish-brown, silky hairs which are slightly irritating to the hands.

roadside fruit trees of lim chu kang (2)

the tall meninjau trees are found mostly along the sides of lim chu kang lane 8. on the female meninjau tree, when the fruit first appear, they are green. then they turn yellow and eventually red, when they are ripe. the male meninjau trees do not produce fruit. the indonesian emping, which we call belinjau, is made from the fruit of this tree.


the monkey/velvet apple trees are found along lim chu kang lane 6. my friend once asked me if the fruit was edible. i told him that the ava would not plant something if the produce was inedible. it is just that the people here are not familiar with the fruit so they do not go for it like, the way they go for langsat, mangosteen and soursop.

the abiu trees are found growing along neo tiew lane 3, the road that leads to the golf course in kranji. the abiu is a smooth, brilliant yellow fruit with sweet translucent flesh. its delicious flavour is reminiscent of crème caramel and it is sometimes used to flavour ice cream and make other desserts. the taste of the fruit is a cross between a mango and a persimmon.

the egg fruit is not the same as the egg plant. the fruit is yellowish to orange with somewhat meaty pulp similar in appearance and texture to a cooked egg yolk embedded often with a single large seed. at maturity, the strong odour of the pulp is musky and the skin colour turns from glossy to dull. there are many such trees with fruit along lim chu kang lane 2, the road where the fire flies health farm is located.


this rambai tree looks very much like the langsat tree and the fruit also can be mistaken for langsat but it does not belong to the same family. like langsat, the fruit hang from the branches and trunk of the tree. there are two rows of rambai trees, one on each side, along lim chu kang lane 3, where it joins with lane 5.

roadside fruit trees of lim chu kang (1)

there are at least 15 varieties of fruit trees planted by the ava (agri-food and veterinary authority of singapore) along the many roads - most of them are actually called lanes - in lim chu kang. if you are not familiar with that area, you can end up going in circles because of the many lanes.

the miracle fruit trees are found mostly on both sides of neo tiew lane 2, where the soon-to-be-opened farm-stay chalets are located. the fruit is also known as magic berry because after eating this fruit, sour or bitter food will taste sweet. i have yet to see any of the trees bear fruit.

there are not many kedongdong trees and these are usually grown interspersed with the other fruit trees. you can find a few along neo tiew crescent, the road that leads to the sungei buloh wetland reserve. i used to be able to buy the fruit from bangkit market on weekends and from sheng siong supermarket on some occasions. in my kampong days, we called them buah long long.

the sour soup trees in lim chu kang are mostly planted along one of the side roads off lim chu kang lane 3. like most of the fruit on the trees in lim chu kang, they hardly get a chance to reach full maturity. once they reach the near ripe stage, some kiasu will quickly pluck it for his own safe keeping.

mangosteen trees take about 9 to 10 years to bear fruit, so most of the trees at lim chu kang are about that old. the ones that have started bearing fruit are found along neo tiew crescent and lim chu kang lane 9. by mangosteen standard, they are considered young. incidentally, there is one outside the visitors' centre at bukit timah nature reserve which is older and much taller. the older mangosteen trees tend to produce more fruit. a mature tree can bear a few thousand mangosteens.

i first came across nutmeg trees when i visited penang in the 70s. so, i was quite excited when i came across them at the lim chu kang area. like the kedongdong, there are not many of them and they are also interspersed among the jambu mawar trees along neo tiew road and among the duku langsat trees along lim chu kang lane 6.

tropical fruits found in the open & wild

how many of these tropical fruits -being sold at one of the stalls along the malaysian lebuhraya makan and rest stops - can you find in our nature parks, nature reserves and along the sides of some roads?

mango ( y)

banana (y)

langsat (y)

papaya (y)

durian (y)

mata kuching (longan) (y)

rambutan (y)

mangosteen (y)

chempedak (y)

soursop (y)

starfruit (small) (y)

pineapple (n)

looks like practically all the tropical fruits that are on sale at this stall in johor can be found growing either in our nature parks, nature reserves or planted by the sides of some roads in some outlying areas.

today, when i walked the trail from zhenghua to rifle range road, i came across two trees heavily laden with mata kuching (longan), apart from the more common durian, rambutan and papaya trees.