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Brachychiton populneus
Also called Bottletree, Lacebark Kurrajong, Whiteflower Kurrajong
Kurrajong is a small to medium Australian tree that stores water in its swollen trunk and tolerates drought and fire. It grows best in full sun in well-drained soil, and young plants need protection from frost.
Brachychiton populneus, commonly known as the kurrajong, is a small to medium-sized tree found naturally in Australia in a diversity of habitats from wetter coastal districts to semi-arid interiors of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. 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.
The kurrajong has multiple uses and was used by many Australian Aboriginal clans and tribes around Australia. As bush food 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.
Illawarra Flame Tree · Brachychiton acuminatus · Brachychiton albidus · Broadleaf Bottletree · Little Kurrajong · Kurrajong · Brachychiton chrysocarpus · Brachychiton compactus · Pink flame tree · Northern Kurrajong · Brachychiton fitzgeraldianus · Brachychiton garrawayae
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Brachychiton populneus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
