It looks like a tree, yet it looks a little odd in its appearance and shape.

If you have seen this kind of artificial trees at Old Choa Chu Kang Road or other parts of Singapore, usually at the western side, and you wonder about the oddness of it, you are not wrong in your observation. It is known as a cell phone tree, which are commonly used in the United States.

Designed to be inconspicuous and “blend” into its surroundings, the cell phone trees are usually shaped like pine or palm trees, probably due to their simpler shapes as compared to other types of trees. Local tropical trees with large crowns such as Rain Tree, Angsana or the Yellow Flame are not suitable for the designs of cell phone trees due to the wind loading effect and the high manufacturing cost of the plastic and fiberglass branches and leaves.

In Singapore, cell phone trees are not common, and are usually used by the military and the telecommunication companies to disguise their antenna towers.

Published: 28 June 2015