Difficulty: 1/5
Distance: 0.9 km
From: Shui Long Wo
To: Kei Ling Ha Lo Wai Car Park
Transportation:
- Take KMB No. 99 departing from Heng On heading to Sai Kung, alight at Shui Long Wo.
- Return by taking KMB No. 99 at Kei Ling Ha Lo Wai heading back to Heng On.
Date: 9 May 2021
This is an easy walk and starting at Shui Long Wo.
After walking some steps you will see the first introductory plate showing Microcos 破布葉, with the leaves hang on the branches like rags. The leaves can be used for herbal tea though, and the bark can also be used to make ropes.
Then there is a side branch leading to Star Lookout, a 6-metre high imitation of the ancient astronomical observatory in Henan Dengfeng built in the Yuan Dynasty.
One can go up the lookout and imagine seeing the starry night during in the old days.
Continuing on the tree walk, you will find Sweet Viburnum 珊瑚樹. The small white blossoms will turn to purple-red fruit in summer, and because of the sweetness, attract many insects and birds when ripe.
Next we see Claoxylon 白桐樹. Many old people might know this native tree because of its medicinal value to cure dampness and swelling, helping back and leg pain.
Looking through the trees you can also see the Plover Cove Reservoir in the distance.
Continuing there is Common Red Stem Fig 青果榕, quite easily recognized from the flowers on the trunk, but they are actually in the form of green fruit, of the same kind of fig used in soup.
Next is something easily identified in summer, when the Lance-leaved Sterculia 假蘋婆 form the orange red pod bearing the black bean-like fruit.
Interestingly there is also patches of Silver Grass along the trail. Not sure how it might look like in winter, but even during this early summer they are growing quite prosperously here.
The Pop-gun Seed 土蜜樹 has the distinctive feature to the veins like that of melon, and has medicinal use for its stems, roots and even leaves. The name comes from the fruit which are used by children as bullets of bamboo emitter.
Another high-value tree is Incense Tree 土沉香, with the trunk can produce balm by Chinese medicine practitioners. Because of illegal exploitation, they are diminishing in number rapidly and now listed as category II protected plant.
If coming in winter the Wax Tree 木蠟樹 will turn red but because of the juice can cause allergic reactions to the skin, one must not try to touch the tree.
Nearing the end there is Aporusa 銀柴, with the silver trunk and being used as firewood so getting its name.
And the last introductory plate shows Elephant's Ear 血桐, as there is a juice comes from the trunk which will turn red after oxidized, as if the tree bleeds. Native to HK, the leaves are big and round, and since it resists wind and salt it is commonly found in lowland and coastal.
After walking through the stone arch and down a few steps you will reach back Sai Sha Road.
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