Flora in Hong Kong

Pineapple plant

After having worked at a nursery for two years I have quite an affinity for plants. This makes travel all the more fun because there is always new and exciting plants to see. Hong Kong has a sub tropical climate so things that grew in the tropical greenhouse at the nursery grow wild here. On one hike to Mui Wo I spotted pineapples growing in someone's front garden.

Banana tree laden with fruit

Speaking of fruit, bananas also grow in Hong Kong! It is not uncommon to see small stands of banana trees during hikes on Lantau Island. All of the ones that I have seen produce really small bananas, only about 3-4 inches long. They have a different flavour than the ones we are used to in Canada but they are delicious.

Flowering plants in Hong Kong are also a pretty spectacular sight. They seem to come in every shape, size and colour. Bougainvillea in particular seen everywhere. They come in the common pink and purple colours, but also red, which I had never seen before traveling to Hong Kong.

Bougainvillea in Mui Wo

 

 

Red and pink bougainvillea growing around a tree

I don't have an extensive knowledge of the common or Latin names of tropical plants so I can't tell you what the following plants are. All I know is that they are exotic and beautiful.

I think this is a cotton tree