From Vanuatu to Yishun: The plant giving S’pore fall colours all year

As the weather cools in the Northern Hemisphere, fall foliage is sure to draw the eye. But even in tropical Singapore, the colours of autumn can be enjoyed year round - in Gardens by the Bay and along the country’s streetscapes, from Yishun to Bukit Panjang.

- Ng Keng Gene Correspondent

The bushy tree that bears these yellow leaves is known as Dendrolobium umbellatum cv “Vanuatu”. It is known to reach heights of 5m to 6m.

This is a cultivated variety (cv) of the Dendrolobium umbellatum, a tree species that has a wide native distribution, from East Africa to the Southwest Pacific — including Singapore, where it can be found in areas such as Labrador Nature Reserve, Pulau Ubin and the Southern Islands.

It usually sports green leaves, but this cultivar was selectively propagated for its yellow leaves for their ornamental value.

The “Vanuatu” in its name is a reference to the Pacific Island nation where this variety is believed to have been first spotted.

The seeds of this yellow-leaved variant were recently gifted to Timor-Leste by Gardens by the Bay staff in August during a plant-sourcing trip there.

The seeds were propagated in a government nursery in September, and the cultivar is set to make its debut on the streets of Timor-Leste in end-2025.

The story of how this cultivar first took root in Singapore dates back 15 years, when Gardens by the Bay’s principal horticulturist, Mr Anton van der Schans, in 2010 decided to import 10 saplings from Australia to Singapore.

The saplings, bought from Darwin Plant Wholesalers, had piqued Mr van der Schans’ interest primarily because their yellow foliage would be good for landscaping the then nascent Gardens, which opened in 2012.

As Singapore does not have the seasonality that many flowering trees require to bloom, he said, plants with different types of foliage are one way to achieve visual variety in landscaped areas.

He was fairly confident that the saplings, which were yellow all year, would retain their colour when planted in Singapore, as Darwin has a similar climate to Singapore’s, albeit with higher temperatures and less rainfall.