Firmiana Marsili

Commemorating K. G. von Firmian (1718–82), one-time Governor-General of Lombardy.

Deciduous trees. Leaves alternate, long-stalked, simple and palmate. Flowers unisexual in terminal clusters, 5-parted. Sepals coloured, tubular. Petals absent. Fruit of up to 5 papery, leaf-like follicles.

Rarely grown but can tolerate, though poorly, the cold of Canberra.

Seed.

12 species, mostly tropical from E Asia, the Malay Archipelago and Pacific Islands, although ranges to east Africa.

Kostermans (1957).

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.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Rosanae
order      Malvales
family       Malvaceae
Higher taxa
Subordinate taxa
species         Firmiana simplex (L.) W.Wight