NTU - our garden campus: 07/2008

Our Nature Guides and Yunnan Garden

In the year 2006, Earthlink NTU and NIE Green Club together initiated the activity--Nature Walk in Yunnan Garden. We aimed to bring together the nature lovers within the campus and explore the nature beauties around. We chose Yunnan Garden as our first guiding place, as this garden had over 30 species of flora and also an intriguing history since 1950s. Then we trained nature guides from our very own student volunteers. Thanks to the hard work of our nature guides, we had conduct 3 nature walks successfully during the first half of the year 2007. Especially, we appreciated the help from experienced nature guides, such as Ms. Yap Swee Cheng and Dr. Shawn Lum.

For the next stage, we would like to expand our guiding walks not only to the whole campus but also places outside NTU. We hope our efforts will recall the importance of the nature.

Photos of the past Nature Walks

Yunnan Garden, with over 30 kinds of flora
and an intriguing history since 1950s

Sea Fig Tree

Common Name: Sea Fig
Place to observe: beside Canteen B bus stop
When to observe: May~June, Sep~Oct
What to observe: young leaves and friuts
Why observe: The sea fig bears fruits twice a year. Before bearing fruits, it sheds off all its leaves and comes out with the new ones in only a few days. As you can see from the pictures below, it bears the fruits on its branches. These fruits are first green and then pink. When looked against the sunlight, it seems like corals in the sea. I guess,that's why it gets the name sea fig.

Trumpet Tree

Common name: Trumpet Tree
Where to observe: Yunnan Garden, Beside Canteen 1, Canteen 2 and SCE
When to observe: Mar and May
Why observe: The trumpet tree only flowers for a few days. Within that short period, the whole tree is so overwhelmed with white or pink flowers that you can hardly find the leaves. The flowers keep drop to the ground from time to time. So the most beautiful scene is, when you wake up in the morning, there are circles of flowers spread on the ground around the trunk.