''Brachychiton populneus'', commonly known as the kurrajong, is a small to medium-sized

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

found naturally in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in a diversity of habitats from wetter coastal districts to

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...

interiors of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. ''Carrejun'' and ''carrejan'' were the indigenous names of trees in the foothills of the Blue Mountains near Sydney, and the bark was used for twine and fishing lines.

Description

The tree is drought-tolerant and the extended trunk is a water storage device for survival in a warm, dry climate. The bell-shaped flowers vary in colour from pale cream to pink, while the leaves vary considerably in shape. The leaves are either simple and pointed, or may be 3–9 lobed. Saplings grow from a drought and fire-resistant tap-rooted

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduc ...

. At present, there are two noted subspecies of ''Brachychiton populneus''. These are: • ''Brachychiton populneus'' subsp. ''populneus'' • ''Brachychiton populneus'' subsp. ''trilobus''

Uses

The kurrajong has multiple uses and was used by many

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

clans and tribes around Australia. As

bush food Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal ...

or "bush tucker", the seeds located in a seed pod were often removed, cleaned of the irritating fine hairs within the seed pod, and roasted for eating. Water could be obtained from the tree roots by boring a hole in the trunk and squeezing the wood. There are also records of the seed pods being turned into a children's rattle or toy. The soft, spongy wood was used for making shields, and the bark as a fibre. The leaves are also used as emergency fodder for drought-affected animal stock. There are records of European settlers using the seeds as a coffee supplement by roasting and crushing the seeds.

Adaptation

It has been introduced as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

to south-western Australia,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

countries. In

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

it was observed to be invasive in disturbed areas.

Hybrids

Horticulturists have hybridised the kurrajong with related ''

Brachychiton ''Brachychiton'' (kurrajong, bottletree) is a genus of 31 species of trees and large shrubs, native to Australia (the centre of diversity, with 30 species) and New Guinea (one species). Fossils from New South Wales and New Zealand are estimated ...

'' species, including the Queensland bottle tree ('' B. rupestris'') and Illawarra flame tree ('' B. acerifolius'') to produce new garden

ornamentals Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

Name

The specific name ''populneus'' pertains to a perceived similarity to the ''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

'' genus, i.e. the poplars. Sometimes ''B. populneus'' is also known by the names "lacebark kurrajong" and "bottle tree" (USA). However, '' B. discolor'' is also referred to as the lacebark kurrajong, and bottle tree is a term commonly applied not only to other species of ''

'' but to members of other ''genera'' around the world. The kurrajong has been recorded as a host plant for the mistletoe species ''

Dendrophthoe glabrescens ''Dendrophthoe glabrescens'', commonly known as smooth mistletoe or orange mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant of the mistletoe family Loranthaceae, found in eastern and northern Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Au ...

'' a hemi-parasite.

Gallery

File:Brachychiton populnea flowers.jpg, ''B. populneus'' flowers and leaves. File:Currajong bark detail.jpg, Bark detail on trunk. File:Brachychiton populneus, details.jpg, Flowers and leaves. File:Kurrajong flowers in Gran Canaria.jpg, Kurrajong flowers in

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

File:Opened seed pod of Brachychiton populneus.jpg, Opened seed pod of ''B. populneus'' in

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. File:Large example of Brachychiton populneus in Melbourne, VIC.jpg, Planted in 1902, in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

References

* Macoboy, S. (1991) What tree is that?,

External links

Austral Ecology, Invasion of urban bushland

Note on economic value

{{Taxonbar, from=Q947016 populneus Bushfood Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of Queensland Edible nuts and seeds Ornamental trees Drought-tolerant trees Malvales of Australia Trees of Australia