Tree to 20 m or more in the wild generally much less in cultivation. Trunk massive, swollen in the centre to 2-3 m wide to give the strange bottle-like appearance with several large branches from the top. Leaves variable in shape from lanceolate to lobed. Flowers about 1 cm long, pale yellow with red markings inside; Nov.-Jan. Fruit 1.5-3 cm long, beaked, in clusters of 3-5; seeds smooth, 6-7 mm long.

Qld

Grows naturally betweeen the coast and the Great Divide on hilltops and slopes.

An important source of fodder in times of drought, mostly the trunk but occasionally the leaves.

NSW: Camden (St John's Anglican Church); Narrandera (Park); Sydney (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney). VIC: Balwyn (Maranoa Gardens); Caulfield ('Ripponlea'); Melbourne (Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (Melbourne Gardens) Central Lawn); Wangaratta ('Bontharambo'). On Queensland's Darling Downs at Newstead House there is a specimen planted in 1956 by Lady Lavarack, wife of the first Queensland-born Governor.

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.