Saturday, October 3, 2009

Ipoh Tree

The city of Ipoh derives its name from a tree which is known as Ipoh or Upas tree. The tree used to be a common sight around Ipoh some time ago. Presently, this tree can be found in the garden in front of the Ipoh Railway Station and D.R. Park

To get a glimpse of how Ipoh tree looks like, the best place to go is the garden in front of the Ipoh Railway Station. Here the tree is fenced.

This tree is grouped in the "nettle" species and can grow up to hundreds of feet tall. Indigenous tribes use the latex taken from the tree to make poisonous darts for their blowpipes.

There is a plaque below the tree which is too dirty for me to read. I can see a Rotary Club insignia on it. Probably this tree was a contribution from them

4 comments:

Dora said...

Can't imagine a very common lookalike tree has some history behind!

Oman said...

Beautiful tree. So round.

wenn said...

ya..plenty of trees in ipoh..

escape said...

i didnt know that a tree can be as special as that. great feature.