Brachychyton populneus

Kurrajong

Tree to 10 m High

A wonderful local bottle tree with some useful characteristics. Very tough with dense dark green foliage. Slow growing at first but then can put on two feet a year. I prone to frost damage when young so covering it in winter until it is over 1 M tall can help it get established. Highly drought resistant when established and casts dense shade for stock. Can also have its limbs cut in droughts for stock feed. The seed pods resemble small canoes. Seeds are black coated in a yellow powder. Resins in the pods when soaked in water produce a voluminous gelatinous substance I assume retains water for the seedlings. Many parts of the tree were used by Aboriginals. The tree is also very fire resistant. It can lose some foliage in fires but recovers unusually quickly. It requires very good drainage to do well. Not for soils that water log.