This month, the Makiling Botanic Gardens features a striking ornamental shrub that catches the eye with its color-changing flowers and glossy foliage: kopsia (Kopsia fruticosa (Roxb.) A.DC.), a member of the Apocynaceae family that has found a home in gardens across the tropics. Origins and Name Kopsia is native to…
This month, the Makiling Botanic Gardens features a plant that embodies the remarkable diversity of Philippine flora: pingol-bato (Begonia nigritarum (Kamel) Steud.), a stunning endemic begonia that has served both culinary and medicinal purposes for generations. Where It Grows Pingol-bato is a creeping plant that grows in moist or damp…
Walk through the primary forests of Mount Makiling at low to medium elevations, and you might encounter a glossy-leaved shrub bearing clusters of fragrant whitish-pink flowers or striking dark purple berries. This is tagpo (Ardisia elliptica Thunb.), our featured Plant of the Month—a species that beautifully illustrates how a single…
Meet Tacca palmata, locally known as Payung-payungan—a fascinating plant native to Southeast Asia. Found throughout Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and across the Philippines, this unique herb grows in forests and thickets at lower elevations. What Makes It Special Payung-payungan is easy to recognize once you know what to look for. The…
Tubang usa [Hellenia speciosa (J.Koenig) S.R. Dutta] is a tropical plant native to a wide range of countries across Asia and the Pacific, including China, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and even northern Australia. It is a proud member…
The Makiling Botanic Gardens (MBG) Plant of the Month (POM) for August 2021 is “dao,” scientifically known as Dracontomelon dao (Blanco) Merr. & Rolfe. It belongs to the family Anacardiaceae found in East Asia to Southern China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, to Papua New Guinea and the…