Travel Flower in Meghan Markle’s veil One of the fascinating plants in the tropical gardens is the Dillenia suffruticosa. The evergreen shrub’s large yellow flowers produce pink fruit, which we saw on the same plant. The national flower of Brunei, it was embroidered into Meghan Markle’s wedding veil as one of the flowers representing the 53 Commonwealth countries. We spotted a broad-leafedAlocasia sprouting from a pond of water lilies. Our guide Jensy explained that its stem can irritate the skin and cause throat pain if eaten. She also pointed out guava, breadfruit, nutmeg, clove and cocoa trees. After gazing at a rare endemic tree planted by Beatle George Harrison, we picked up a fallen ylang-ylang blossom. Oil extracted from the flowers provides the scent for Chanel No. 5 perfume. At a National Parks Day exhibit, we viewed coco-de-mer seeds, catkins, cinnamon bark, nutmeg, starfruit and other local plants. The display gave us an unexpected opportunity to talk to the affable local schoolchildren examining the items. Communication wasn’t an issue, because the Seychelles has three official languages – English, French and Creole, a French-based regional dialect. Seychelles residents, whether we met them in hotels, restaurants, attractions or on inter-island ferries, were invariably friendly. The nation’s population of 94,000 is a melting pot of ethnic diversity, comprising Africans, Indians, Chinese and Europeans. Nearly 90% of them live on Mahé. Cannibals We didn’t expect to see wildlife in the botanical gardens, but a sinister creature caught our attention – a female palm spider. Copper and ebony, the size of a cupped hand, she rested on a web the diameter of a small trampoline. “Do you see the two tiny males? If one of them mates with her, she’ll eat him,” explained Jensy. “When she has babies, she must build a separate web for them, so that the remaining males don’t make them lunch.” We were also surprised to see some giant tortoises from Aldabra here. Some were more than 150 years old. Breadfruit tree in Seychelles National Botanical Gardens in Victoria, Mahé Pink fruits and yellow flowers of Dillenia suffruticosa embroidered into Meghan Markle’s wedding veil Oil extracted from ylang-ylang flowers provides the scent for Chanel No. 5 perfume Schoolchildren view coco-de-mer seeds, catkins, cinnamon bark, nutmeg, starfruit and local plants at National Parks Day display Female palm spider and two tiny males on web in Seychelles National Botanical Gardens CSANews | WINTER 2018 | 19
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