Queensland Bottle Tree
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''Brachychiton rupestris'' ( commonly known as the narrow-leaved bottle tree or Queensland bottle tree) is a
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 ...
in the
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...
,
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
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 ...
,
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 ...
. Described by Sir Thomas Mitchell and
John Lindley John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist. Early years Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...
in 1848, it earned its name from its bulbous
trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure, and the stem of woody plants * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Comput ...
, which can be up to in
diameter at breast height Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...
(DBH). Reaching around high, the Queensland bottle tree is
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
, losing its leaves seasonally, between September and December. The
leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
are simple or divided, with one or more narrow
leaf blade A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...
s up to long and wide. Cream-coloured
flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
s appear from September to November, and are followed by woody, boat-shaped follicles that ripen from November to May. No subspecies are recognised. As a
drought deciduous Drought deciduous, or drought semi-deciduous plants refers to plants that shed their leaves during periods of drought or in the dry season. This phenomenon is a natural process of plants and is caused due to the limitation of water around the env ...
succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
tree, much like the
baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). The eight species of ''Adansonia'' are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barb ...
(''Adansonia'') of
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
, ''B. rupestris'' adapts readily to cultivation, and is quite tolerant of a range of soils and temperatures. It is a key component and emergent tree in the endangered central semi-evergreen vine thickets (also known as bottletree scrub) of the Queensland
Brigalow Belt The Brigalow Belt is a wide band of acacia-wooded grassland that runs between tropical rainforest of the coast and the semi-arid interior of Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Aus ...
. Remnant trees are often left by farmers on cleared land for their value as shade and fodder trees, and as homes for various birds and animals.


Description

''Brachychiton rupestris'' grows as a
succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
tree reaching , rarely , in height, though plants in cultivation are usually shorter. The thick trunk is tall, with a
diameter at breast height Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...
(DBH). It has dark grey bark and is marked by shallow
tessellation A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety ...
and deeper fissures. Smaller branches are light green or grey, as are the trunks of immature trees. Like those of all members of the genus, the leaves are alternately arranged along the stems. ''B. rupestris'' is
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
. Trees in their native habitat are typically leafless between September and December; the timing, duration and extent of leaf drop may be affected by extremes of rainfall or drought. Sometimes trees shed leaves from only some branches. On every tree, the leaves vary in shape, ranging from narrow and elliptic to deeply divided. The upper surface is glossy, contrasting with a pale undersurface. The adult leaf blades are long and wide with pointed (
acuminate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...
or
apiculate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets) ...
) tips. They have a raised
midrib A primary vein, also known as the midrib, is the main vascular structure running through the center of a leaf. The primary vein is crucial for the leaf’s efficiency in photosynthesis and overall health, as it ensures the proper flow of material ...
on the upper and lower surface, with 12–25 pairs of lateral veins that are more prominent on the upper surface, arising at 50–60 degrees from the midrib. The compound juvenile leaves have 3–9 spear-shaped (lanceolate) or linear lobes. These each measure long and wide.
Panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...
s of creamy-yellow flowers with red markings appear from September to November in the species' native range. These arise from
axillary bud The axillary bud (or lateral bud) is an Plant embryogenesis, embryonic or Organogenesis#Plant organogenesis, organogenic Shoot (botany), shoot located in the axil of a leaf. Each bud has the potential to form shoots, and may be specialized in prod ...
s on end branches. Each panicle contains 10–30 flowers and is long, and each flower is long and wide. The length of the lobes of the
perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...
is more than half the perianth diameter. Like all ''Brachychiton'' species, ''B. rupestris'' is
monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...
—each plant has distinct male and female flowers. Male flowers have 15
stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...
s, with pale yellow
anthers The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...
, while female flowers have cream or white stigmas surrounded by rudimentary stellate (star-shaped)
carpels Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ...
, which sit atop the ovaries. Groups of 3 to 5 woody boat-shaped follicles, each containing 4 to 8 (or occasionally up to 12) seeds, develop from November to May. The follicles, smooth on the outer surface and hairy inside, split along their length to reveal seeds. The seeds, which are ovoid with a smooth surface, and long by wide, are covered by a hairy coating known as the exotesta. The closely related Proserpine bottle tree ('' Brachychiton compactus'') that occurs only in the vicinity of the town of Proserpine can be distinguished by its more oval leaves, more compact flower heads, and longer ellipsoid follicles. The undescribed Ormeau bottle tree has brighter lime-green new foliage and leaves but is otherwise similar to the Proserpine bottle tree.


Taxonomy and naming

The species came to the attention of the scientific community when explorer
Sir Thomas Mitchell Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), often called Major Mitchell, was a Scottish surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia. He was born in Scotland and served in the British Army during the Peninsular War. I ...
observed the trees on his expedition through Queensland in 1848 and published an account in ''Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia'' in the same year. He came across them as he ascended Mount Abundance near present-day
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...
, remarking that "The trunk bulged out in the middle like a barrel, to nearly twice the diameter at the ground, or of that at the first springing of the branches above. These were small in proportion to their great girth, and the whole tree looked very odd." In the same publication, English botanist
John Lindley John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist. Early years Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...
provided the first formal
description Description is any type of communication that aims to make vivid a place, object, person, group, or other physical entity. It is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narr ...
. Lindley placed it in the genus ''Delabechea'' as the sole representative—''Delabechea rupestris''. The genus name was selected by Mitchell to honour the director of the
British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...
,
Henry De la Beche Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche KCB, FRS (10 February 179613 April 1855) was an English geologist and palaeontologist, the first director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, who helped pioneer early geological survey methods. He was the ...
, while the Latin
specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
''rupestris'' (meaning 'living among rocks') alludes to the rocky hilltop habitat of specimens observed by Mitchell. Ferdinand von Mueller, the Government Botanist in
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 ...
, renamed it ''Brachychiton delabechei'' in 1862, incorporating the genus ''Delabechea'' into ''Brachychiton''. In his landmark ''
Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume Flora of Australia published b ...
'', English botanist
George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...
published the first key for the nine described species of ''Brachychiton'', and relegated them to a section of ''
Sterculia ''Sterculia'' is a genus of 182 flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae: subfamily Sterculioideae (previously placed in the now obsolete Sterculiaceae). Members of the genus are colloquially known as tropical chestnuts. ''Sterculia'' ...
''. Hence the Queensland bottle tree became ''Sterculia rupestris''. Von Mueller maintained his recognition of ''Brachychiton'' as a separate genus. German botanist
Otto Kuntze Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (23 June 1843 – 27 January 1907) was a German botanist. Biography Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig. An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled ''Pocket Fauna of Leipzig''. Between 1863 and 1866, he ...
challenged the generic name ''Sterculia'' in 1891, on the grounds that the name ''Clompanus'' took precedence. He republished the Queensland bottle tree as ''Clompanus rupestris''. German botanist
Karl Moritz Schumann Karl Moritz Schumann (17 June 1851 – 22 March 1904) was a German botanist. Schumann was born in Görlitz. He was curator of the Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum, Botanisches Museum in Berlin-Dahlem from 1880 until 1894. ...
gave it its current
binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
in 1893, which was accepted by Achille Terraciano of the
Orto botanico di Palermo The Orto Botanico di Palermo (''Palermo Botanical Garden'') is both a botanical garden and a research and educational institution of the Department of Botany of the University of Palermo. The garden lies within the city of Palermo, Italy at ...
and subsequent authorities, and remains current. In 1988, Gordon Guymer of the
Queensland Herbarium The Queensland Herbarium (Index Herbariorum code: BRI) is situated at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of Queensland's Department of Environment and Science. It is responsible for disc ...
published a taxonomic revision of ''Brachychiton''; he classified ''B. rupestris'' in the
section Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...
''Delabechea'' along with the related and newly described Proserpine bottle tree. A third species, from southeast Queensland, has been recognised but not yet described. Unique to the section, all three species have bulbous trunks and can have large cavities in the vertical wood
parenchyma upright=1.6, Lung parenchyma showing damage due to large subpleural bullae. Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs, or a structure such as a tumour. In zoology, it is the tissue that ...
. The genus ''Brachychiton'' lies within an Australasian
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
within the subfamily
Sterculioideae Sterculioideae is a subfamily of the family (biology), family Malvaceae containing evergreen and deciduous tree and shrub genera, that were previously placed in the obsolete family Sterculiaceae. Taxonomy A 2006 molecular study indicated the Ste ...
(previously family
Sterculiaceae Sterculiaceae was a family of flowering plant based on the genus '' Sterculia''. Genera formerly included in Sterculiaceae are now placed in the family Malvaceae, in the subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioide ...
) in a large broadly defined
Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...
. It is only distantly related to ''Sterculia'', belonging to a different clade within the Sterculioideae. The name of the genus is derived from the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
''brachys'', 'short', and ''chiton'', 'tunic', a reference to the loose
seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
coats. ''Brachychiton'' was for many years misconstrued as being of neuter gender—first by the genus describers
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (7 January 1794 – 5 March 1865) was an Austrian botanist. He is known for his extensive work on aroids ( Araceae). Biography Schott was born on 7 January 1794 in Brno, Moravia. He studied botany, agriculture and chemi ...
and
Stephan Endlicher Stephan Friedrich Ladislaus Endlicher, also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804 – 28 March 1849), was an Austrian Empire, Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Biog ...
and later by von Mueller and others—with the specific names then incorrectly amended. Thus the bottle tree's binomial was recorded as ''Brachychiton rupestre'', now regarded as an
orthographical variant In biology, within the science of Nomenclature, scientific nomenclature, i.e. the naming of organisms, an orthographical variant (abbreviated orth. var.) in botany or an orthographic error in zoology, is a spelling mistake, typing mistake or writi ...
. Besides Queensland bottle tree, common names for the species include narrow-leaved bottle tree and bottle tree. ''Brachychiton'' × ''turgidulus'' is a naturally occurring hybrid cross of ''B. rupestris'' with the kurrajong '' B. populneus'' subsp. ''populneus''. It is particularly prevalent east of
Boonah Boonah is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Boonah had a population of 2,557 people. Geography The town is positioned near the Fassifern Valley, McPherson Range and Main Ra ...
.


Distribution and habitat

''Brachychiton rupestris'' is found in central Queensland from latitude 22° S to 28° S, with the western limits of its range defined by the 500 mm rainfall
isohyet A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, isoquant or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensi ...
. It grows on the tops and slopes of hills or ridges in low hilly country, in clay, shale, or basalt soils. It is an emergent tree in forests dominated by brigalow (''
Acacia harpophylla ''Acacia harpophylla'', commonly known as brigalow, brigalow spearwood or orkor, is an endemic (ecology), endemic tree of Australia. The Aboriginal Australian group the Gamilaraay peoples know the tree as Barranbaa or Burrii. It is found in ...
''), hoop pine (''
Araucaria cunninghamii ''Araucaria cunninghamii'' is a species of ''Araucaria'' known as hoop pine. Other less commonly used names include colonial pine, Queensland pine, Dorrigo pine, Moreton Bay pine and Richmond River pine. The scientific name honours the botanist a ...
''), or ooline (''
Cadellia pentastylis ''Cadellia'' is a monotypic genus of trees in the botanical family Surianaceae. The sole species, ''Cadellia pentastylis'', commonly known as ooline, is a medium to large tree with bright green leaves and rough tile-pattern bark. It has rain for ...
''). It is always present in the Central semi-evergreen vine thicket—also known as Bottletree Scrub—of the
Brigalow Belt The Brigalow Belt is a wide band of acacia-wooded grassland that runs between tropical rainforest of the coast and the semi-arid interior of Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Aus ...
. Other common species include broad-leaved bottle tree ('' Brachychiton australis'') and belah (''
Casuarina cristata ''Casuarina cristata'', commonly known as belah or muurrgu, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to inland eastern Australia. It is a tree with fissured or scaly bark, sometimes drooping branchlets, the lea ...
''). The narrow-leaved bottle tree is replaced by the kurrajong in similar communities in New South Wales.


Conservation

Although the species status under Queensland's
Nature Conservation Act The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...
is "least concern", it is an emergent tree species in an endangered ecosystem known as "semi-evergreen vine thickets of the Brigalow Belt (North and South) and Nandewar bioregions", listed under the Commonwealth
EPBC Act The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...
, and is declining across its range. Furthermore, the health of trees in cleared areas may be compromised. The species is conserved within its natural habitat in a number of National Parks including Auburn River, Benarkin,
Bunya Mountains The Bunya Mountains are a distinctive set of peaks forming an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland. The mountain range forms the northern edge of the Darling Downs in the locality also called Bunya Mountains, Quee ...
, Coalstoun Lakes, Dipperu, Good Night Scrub,
Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * Hu ...
, Isla Gorge and Tregole.


Ecology

''Brachychiton rupestris'' 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 ...
''. Insects hosted by the species include the pale cotton stainer bug, a pest of
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
crops, and the kurrajong leaf roller caterpillar that chews on the foliage and rolls individual leaves, within which it then pupates. Bottle tree scrub is a key habitat of the near threatened black-breasted buttonquail. ''Brachychiton rupestris'' can withstand bushfires and responds by flowering and putting forth new foliage afterwards.


Uses

Aboriginal people made use of the trees through eating the roots of young plants and by consuming secretions from the trunk that were induced by wounds. Fibre obtained from the species was used to make nets. The leaves have also been used for
fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...
, and Queensland farmers often leave bottle trees as a potential food source when land is cleared. During drought conditions, whole trees have been felled to feed stock. The soft edible pulp inside the trunk is exposed by removing the bark. The pulp is energy-rich but protein-poor, and occasional cases of
nitrate poisoning Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are soluble in water. An example of an insolubl ...
have led to cattle deaths.


Cultivation

Bottle trees are commonly found planted in streets and parks, on farms, and as features in gardens. An avenue in
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...
, Queensland, was planted between 1918 and 1920, each tree representing one of 93 local men killed in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The species has been cultivated as an indoor plant and a
bonsai Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...
subject. Bottle trees grow best in well-drained, slightly acidic soil, in full sunshine. They are suited to cultivation in regional climates equivalent to
USDA hardiness zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
9 to 12. In the first stages of growth, the bottle tree is very slow-growing, and the formation of the unique bottle shape is not visible until the tree is about 5 to 8 years old. Mature trees transplant easily, and can withstand intervals of up to three months between digging and replanting without detriment. Bottle trees grown from seed may take up to 20 years to flower. Flowering takes place after adult leaves have appeared. Plants are readily propagated from seed. As seed is surrounded by irritating hairs within the pod, extraction requires care. Stem cuttings of semi-mature growth can be taken in late summer and require the application of rooting hormones and bottom heat.


See also

*''
Adansonia gregorii ''Adansonia'' is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). The eight species of ''Adansonia'' are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barb ...
'', the bottle tree or baobab of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.


Notes


References


Cited text

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2662709 rupestris Flora of Queensland Malvales of Australia Trees of Australia Ornamental trees Drought-tolerant trees Plants described in 1848 Caudiciform plants