Brachychiton populneus Seeds - Australian Bottle Tree - Stunning Exotic Tree Edible

Common Names: Australian Bottle Tree, Lacebark Kurrajong, White-flower Kurrajong, Bottle Tree, Black Kurrajong or Northern Kurrajong Kurrajong

Brachychiton populneus, commonly called Kurrajong, is a native to eastern Australia with much value in cultivation. Plants are tolerant of dry conditions, easy to propagate and have many interesting features.

The beautiful flowers are bell-shaped and whitish in color with the inner flower tube streaked purple-brown. They are very attractive to bees. Seeds are borne within woody, boat-shaped fruit 1-7 cm long and are surrounded by fine hairs that can cause skin and eye irritation.

Juvenile plants, which display attractive lobed leaves and swollen taproots, make good pot-plants or bonsai specimens. They are tolerant of dry and pot-bound conditions and respond well to pruning.

Trees are typically stout with glossy-green foliage. It is said that the ground-up seeds can be brewed into a coffee substitute or added to bread. The swollen, carrot-like taproot is a nutritious and agreeable vegetable and the gum that the tree exudes is also edible. The fiber taken from the stem has been used in twine and netting manufacture.

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 to be 50 million years old, corresponding to the Tertiary. Other Brachychiton species include, Brachychiton acuminatus, Brachychiton acerifolius, Brachychiton albidus, Brachychiton australis, Brachychiton bidwillii, Brachychiton carruthersii, Brachychiton chilligoensis, Brachychiton collinus, Brachychiton compactus, Brachychiton discolour, Brachychiton diversifolius, Brachychiton fitzgeraldianus, Brachychiton garrawayae, Brachychiton grandiflorus, Brachychiton gregorii, Brachychiton incanus, Brachychiton megaphyllus, Brachychiton muellerianus, Brachychiton obtusilobus, Brachychiton paradoxus, Brachychiton populneus, Brachychiton rupestris, Brachychiton spectabilis, Brachychiton tridentatus, Brachychiton tuberculatus, Brachychiton velutinosus, Brachychiton vitifolius and Brachychiton xanthophyllus.