Not only are they beneficial to local flora and fauna, many Philippine native trees provide beautiful flowers too.
When work-from-home setup became a norm during the height of the pandemic, many people found themselves with new activities to occupy the free time they have been given and divert their attention from the stress and panic caused by the disease that has taken many lives all over the world. Some became new pet owners, others rediscovered their love for crafting, and many have become “plantito or plantita”, the new term referring to someone who enjoys plants.
Ornamental plants such as pothos, caladium, and monstera gained popularity. While beautiful, most of the garden plants popular nowadays are exotic and are often not beneficial not only to local plants but local animals as well.
For the benefit of local ecology, advocates hope that people consider native plants including native trees. These native trees are resilient to the Philippine climate, are great homes and sources of food for our local animals, and many of them provide beautiful flowers to make the gardens even more appealing to the eyes.
Here are the Philippine native trees with the most beautiful flowers.
Balayong
Balayong Flowers
Scientific Name: Cassia javanica
Balayong is a small to medium-sized tree that can grow as high as 15 meters. It produces clusters of light pink or whitish-pink flowers. Aside from its beautiful flowers, the tree is known for its wood, great for making furniture.
The city of Puerto Princesa holds the annual Balayong Festival to celebrate the founding anniversary of the city and revive the popularity of the tree. For the locals of Palawan, balayong symbolizes feminine dominance, female beauty, and love in the language of herbs.
Banaba
![Banaba](/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/banaba.jpg")
Banaba Flowers
Scientific name: Lagerstroemia speciosa
Banaba, also known as Plant of India, giant crepe-myrtle, and Queen’s crepe-myrtle, is native to Asian countries including the Philippines, India, and Bangladesh. This small to medium tree produces flowers with six white to purple petals during summer. The tree is known for its healing properties and is one of the 69 herbal plants promoted by the Department of Health (DOH). Prepared as tea, banaba is used as a supplement for kidney inflammation, urinary dysfunctions, constipation, kidney failure, and to help regulate blood sugar.
Bani
Scientific Name: Milletia pinnata; syn. Pongamia pinnata
Bani is native not only in southern Asia, eastern Asia, and Australia, but it is also cultivated in Africa and the USA. The tree grows to about 15-25 meters high and provides a large canopy of branches with leaves spreading wide. Its fragrant flowers are small clusters of white with a bit of purple and pink. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, Bani has several uses too. The flowers when used as compost provide nutrients to plants while its wood has been used as firewood, posts, and tool handles. Oil produced by the tree is also used as lamp oil, as lubricant, or in soap making.
Dap-dap
Dap-dap Flowers
Scientific Name: Erythrina variegata Linn. var. orientalis (Linn.)
Dap-dap is a thorny tree that sheds its leaves seasonally. It can grow up to 27 meters tall and produces clusters of bright red to red orange flowers making the garden look more beautiful. Like many plants in the Philippines, dap-dap has been used in traditional medicine. Its bark is used to facilitate the maturation of boils while the decoction of its bark and leaves helps relieve respiratory ailments, particularly asthma and cough. However, dap-dap must be used as medicine with precaution as it can be toxic when overdone.
Katmon
Scientific Name: Dillenia philippinensis
Katmon is found only in the Philippines, particularly in forests of low and medium altitudes. It is a type of evergreen tree that can grow up to 10-15 meters high. Its flowers are large, about 15 centimeters in diameter, and are white with reddish pistil and stamens. Its fruit, known as elephant apple, is around 5-6 in diameter and tastes similar to sour green apple. The fruit can be used to make sauces, jams, and flavoring for fish dishes. Its wood has silver grain similar to a quartered oak thus perfect for making furniture and cabinets.
Katmon has been featured on the Philippine twenty-five centavo coin since 2018.
Ilang-ilang
Ilang-ilang Flowers
Scientific Name: Cananga odorata
Ilang-ilang, also spelled ylang-ylang, produces droopy, long-stalked flowers with six narrow, greenish-yellow petals. The flower is known for its strong floral scent and is popularly used in the perfume industry, hence the nickname “queen of the perfumes”. Ilang-ilang is a fast-growing tree and has an average height of 12 meters. Aside from being used as perfume, its oil is also used in aromatherapy to help relieve high blood pressure, normalize the skin’s sebum secretion, and as an aphrodisiac.
Ilang-ilang is native to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, Vietnam, and Queensland, Australia.
Malabulak
Malabulak Flowers | Image Source
Scientific Name: Bombax ceiba
Like dap-dap, malabulak is also a deciduous tree that sheds its leaves at the end of the season. The tree can grow as high as 25 meters in height and produces vibrant red waxy flowers. Malabulak tree resembles kapok (Ceiba pentandum), fire tree (Delonix regia), and Caballero (Caesalpinia Pulcerrima), all are introduced species in the Philippines. The tree is nicknamed the “silent doctor” due to its use in traditional medicine.
Other local names of malabulak are buboi-gubat and taglinau.
Molave
Scientific Name: Vitex parviflora
Molave is known in the Philippines for its durable wood prized in making furniture, boats, utensils, railroad ties, and in construction materials. It can grow as high as 30 meters and produces purplish flowers growing in clusters at the end of their small branches. Molave is native to the Philippines as well as Indonesia and Malaysia. Also known as smallflower chastetree, molave is a protected species in the Philippines and often used in reforestation activities in the country.
Narra
Narra Flowers
Scientific Name: Pterocarpus indicus
The national tree of the Philippines, narra is a large deciduous tree that grows as high as 30-40 meters. It produces slightly fragrant yellow or yellow-orange flowers from February to May. Its wood is rose-scented, too and is prized in the furniture-making industry as it is termite-resistant and one of the hardest in the country. Its leaves are used in traditional medicine as they contain flavonoids that can help manage inflammation, allergies, and kidney issues. The leaves can also be used to polish brass and copper while the flowers as honey source.
Salingbobog
Salingbobog Flowers | Image Source
Scientific Name: Crateva religiosa
Salingbobog, also called salingbobong and balai-lamok, is a deciduous tree that can grow as high as 15 meters. The flowers are a combination of white, greenish-yellow, and pink with long, spidery stamens. As beautiful as the cherry blossom, the flowers of salingbobog are filled with nectar which attracts insects and birds. Its fruit is edible and is rich in vitamin C while the leaves are used to treat irregular menstruation.
Salingongon
Salingogon flowers.
Scientific Name: Cratoxylum formosum
Salingogon or Pink Mempat is a flowering tree native to the Philippines and other tropical countries in Southeast Asia. The tree usually blooms with lush pink flowers in clusters with reddish leaves during the dry season. It can grow as tall as 45 meters high. Sadly, this is a rare sight in the Philippines since it is usually cut young for its timber is used for charcoal. With the rise of the popularity of native trees lately, this is one of the sought after tree of the Philippine native tree enthusiasts.
Other Philippine native trees you may want to consider for their beautiful flowers are siar and bagras, the latter known for its colorful trunk hence its other known – the rainbow eucalyptus.
READ MORE: Philippine Outdoors & Nature
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