SINGAPORE -While tigers have died out in Singapore, a flower named after the feline has successfully been reintroduced here by the National Parks Board (NParks).
With a mature tiger orchid plant (Grammatophyllum speciosum) potentially weighing over a tonne, it is the tallest and largest orchid species in the world.
Its common name is derived from brown markings on the orchid's vivid yellow petals resembling the coat of a tiger.
More than 1,000 tiger orchids can be found around the island, including at Geylang Park Connector, Jurong Lake Gardens, Pasir Ris Park and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, following a national programme to monitor and conserve orchid species, NParks coordinating director for living collections Thereis Choo told The Straits Times last Wednesday.
In the 1900s, the plant species was driven to extinction in the wild due to habitat loss.
Efforts to reintroduce the species in habitats such as on roadside trees and in parks began in 1995 under the Orchid Conservation Programme by the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Four years later, the first batch of healthy seedlings were reintroduced to the gardens, Pulau Ubin and the visitor centre at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
The species has unpredictable blooming patterns, sometimes flowering only once in a few years, said Dr Choo.
More than 10 years after they were planted through the programme, for instance, several tiger orchid plants flowered for the first time in March 2013 in places such as Holland Road and Kent Ridge Park.
Said Dr Choo: "It has been observed that flowering often occurs when a period of rainy days is followed by hot, dry spells. Each flower spike can last more than a month."
NParks also discovered that several factors such as humidity and bark texture affect the survival of reintroduced tiger orchid seedlings.
For example, seedlings established in damp areas inside a secondary forest were healthier and more vigorous than those introduced near the sea where the breeze dried the bark faster.
Seedlings with 16 to 20 leaves also tended to survive better than those with only five leaves.
Tiger orchids grow on other plants or trees for support but are self-sustaining, said Dr Choo.
The biggest specimen in Singapore can be found at the Botanic Gardens. Measuring about 5m in diameter, the clump has been growing in the same spot on the ground for more than 150 years.
