Katong Park is a quiet neighbourhood park which is known for several things, one of which is its Rainbow Tree.
With its multi-coloured bark, the so-called Rainbow Tree at Katong Park is actually a Mindanao Gum tree which belongs to the Eucalyptus family. Its scientific name is Eucalyptus deglupta.
Mindanao Gum: Rainbow Tree at Katong Park
The Mindanao Gum Tree at Katong Park is a heritage tree. The evergreen tree can grow up to 60 metres tall and has a flat-topped crown.
Even though it is named after the Philippine Island of Mindanao, the tree is a native of Papua New Guinea (it can be found in Philippines too).
Its trunk is straight and has a smooth bark. When the bark falls off, it reveals its bright-green inner bark. When this matures, it can show-off blue, purple, orange and maroon tones. This has led to its informal name as the Rainbow Tree or Rainbow Gum.
The Mindanao Gum tree has the distinction of being the only Eucalyptus species found naturally in the Northern Hemisphere.
Besides its distinctive trunk, the Mindanao Gum tree also has leaves which are lance- or spear-shaped when young. These become more rounded as the tree gets older. The flowers occur in spike-like clusters and are cream to pale-green in colour.
Finding the Rainbow Gum Tree in Singapore
Katong Park is not the only park in Singapore which as the Mindanao Gum tree.
Clusters of the tree species can also be found at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, North Buona Vista Drive and Biopolis Drive. You can locate them using Trees.sg and searching by species for Eucalyptus deglupta.
