Brachychiton populneus (Schott & Endl.) R.Br.

Kurrajong

A thickly-foliaged tree 10-15 m tall. Leaves variable, mostly ovate-lanceolate but occasionally palmate with 3-5 lobes. Leaf stalk 5-10 cm long. Flowers about 2 cm long, soft-hairy and pale yellow outside, hairless and greenish-yellow with red markings in the throat; late spring to early summer. Carpels hairy. Fruit 5-7 cm long in clusters on stalks 2-5 cm long.

subsp. trilobus Guymer has 3(-5) lobed leaves and is occasionally encountered in cultivation. A specimen can be seen in Melbourne at Princes Park at the entrance to the Carlton Social Club.

Qld, NSW, Vic

Grows naturally in forest and woodland.

Often grown as a fodder and shade plant for stock, mostly in drought-prone inland areas. Aboriginals used fibre as cord for fishing nets and lines, dilly bags and the roots for food.

SA: Adelaide Zoo (by reptile house) ACT: Braddon (Limestone Ave), Forrest (Tasmania Circle). NSW: Camden (Macarthur Park); Forbes (Victoria Park); Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan (Terrace Garden); Narran­dera (Park). VIC: Camberwell (Edinburgh Gds); Caulfield Park (many); Charlton (picnic/playground); Coburg (De Chene Reserve); Fitzroy Gardens (many on periphery of park); Irymple (Main Street); Kalimna (Nyerimilang Heritage Park, 16 m tall in 1991); Kew (Carey Baptist Grammar School); Malvern (Central Park); Melbourne (Treasury Gardens); Mildura (large tree in Deakin Ave behind Baptist Church - about 10 m tall); St Arnaud (Queen Mary Gardens); Williamstown (Williamstown Botanic Gardens).

subsp. trilobus Guymer has 3(-5) lobed leaves and is occasionally encountered in cultivation. A specimen can be seen in Melbourne at Princes Park at the entrance to the Carlton Social Club.

 

B. ×turgidulus Guymer subsp. turgidulus (B. populneus × B. rupestris) has a slightly swollen trunk and leaves like B. populneus but is intermediate in floral characters; it occurs naturally in SE Queensland and is occasionally cultivated.

Source: Spencer, R. (1997). Sterculiaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

Hero image
Distribution map
kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Rosanae
order      Malvales
family       Malvaceae
genus        Brachychiton Schott & Endl.