Kurrajong

This is Brachychiton populneus - Kurrajong. This one is on or other side of the road from the E.stricklandii mentioned in the next blog. This is one of a small group of several Brachychiton species. These are small trees as yet, possibly they will grow to 10m. They have a dense crown of foliage, are quite shady to stand under, unlike the mallee and the gums on the other side of the road. These trees are in flower.

The male flower are bell shaped, quite large, up to 5cm, although the size varies. The flowers don’t seem to have any scent, but they are bright and cheerful. Why it is that nature endows the male flower and some animals with all colour and movement, yet human males are subject to the worst excesses of , is something of a worry, but we are not going to bother with it. We have decided to be happy, like a Kurrajong. The most immediate relative of this tree is the Illawarra Flame tree, B. Acerifolius.
Buds form small, light green pods.

Fruit is a large leathery pod full of three rows of tightly packed yellow seeds. These trees are often used as fodder trees, whether the pods or the leaves are used, I don’t know, and have no means of finding out. Some people are wary of these pods, the small hairs infesting the follicle are irritating on the skin, and the tree is sometimes called the “itchy tree”.
Stem of the trunk is solid, firmly situated, and even in a small tree quite large. This one is about 30-40cm in diameter, the tree is only 5m.

The neighbouring tree seems to be a small B. rupestre - Bottle tree. This tree should grow twice the height of its companion-up to 20m-and form the distinct bottle shape evident even here.