Kurrajong trees - Brachychiton genus

This post is a response to a reader comment left by sfk.hooper who made the observation that none of my blog posts about Brachychiton trees had pictures of the whole specimens. I went back and double checked and discovered that he/she was quite right for every one except the B. acerifolius tree for which I did have a picture of the complete tree in bloom. At any rate here are some pictures of six different types of Brachychiton trees showing the whole specimen.
The first image (above) is of three Brachychiton discolor which goes by common names Lacebark tree, Bottle tree, or Bush Kurrajong (I have found that there is quite a bit of confusion on the web when it comes to the common names of trees in the Brachychiton genus.
The second image (above) is of a mature B. populneus tree that is often called the Kurrajong (in my post on this tree I called it the Lacebark Kurrajong but I stand to be corrected if this is not the proper name).
The third image (above) is of the B. discolor which goes by the names Bush Kurrajong or Scrub bottletree.
The next tree (above) is the Brachychiton discolor x acerifolius which is a hybrid that is called "Clarabelle"
The next tree (above) is a B. bidwillii that is called the Little Kurrajong.

The last tree is the B. acerifolius, also known as the "flametree". Follow the link to find out why it is called the Flametree.

Clarabelle - Brachychiton discolor x acerifolius

The "Clarabelle" is a naturally occurring hybrid tree species that is a cross between Brachychiton discolor and Brachychiton acerifolius. These trees are native to Australia but are widely planted as ornamental urban trees in the south of Spain where these pictures were taken.
The bell shaped flowers are slightly smaller than those of b.discolor but a good deal bigger than those of b.acerifolius. Like the b.discolor they have two tones of color on the exterior of the bell shape. The flower buds are similar in shape and color the the b.discolor but lack the fuzzy exterior.
The shape and size of the "Clarabelle´s" seed pods is almost identical to those of the b.discolor but the color is more similar to the b.acerifolius and here again the fuzzy exterior of the b.discolor is not present (although on some trees there is a slight hint of the fuzziness).

The image above is of a new seed pod starting to form while the image below is of fully mature seed pods with the seeds exposed. These seeds are encased with a very fine hairy substance that can leave tiny little "slivers" embedded into your fingers if you tree and extract the seeds with your bare hands. These seeds are reputed to be edible.

The leaf shape of the "Clarabelle" is quite similar to the b.acerifolius which are quite a bit larger than those of the b.discolor. The leaves are about 9-12 inches across.
Some other Brachychitons...
Brachychiton bidwillii
Brachychiton populneus

Lacebark Kurrajong - Brachychiton populneus

The Lacebark Kurrajong, also called the "bottle tree" is a member of the Brachychiton genus of trees and native to Australia. It is a fast growing tree whose trunk tends to bulge a bit, although much less than some of the other "bottle trees" such as the Brachychiton rupestris. The new bark of the Lacebark Kurrajong is green in color and has photosynthesis capability. The bark turns light brown as it ages. As the trunk stretches however new bark is exposed in the stretch marks of the old which creates the "lacebark" pattern.
Like other Kurrajongs this tree species has a great deal variation in its leaf shapes. Leaf shapes vary from simple to multiple lobes. Three lobes are very common and I have seen some with five. It is also very common to see leaves that are asymmetrical with a lobe on one side missing or underdeveloped.
The seed pods grow in clusters of 4-5 pods is a sort of star pattern. Each individual pods has a sort of boat shape the eventually opens up revealing the corn kernel shaped seeds.
The seed pods also have an interesting ornamental value if you are into doing crafts.
The seeds are reputed to be edible although extracting them can be tricky. The inside of the seed pod is lined with very fine hairs that will stick in your skin if handled with bare hands.
more from this genus...
Brachychiton discolor
Brachychiton bidwillii
Brachychiton acerifolius

for an interesting tree that is similar to this tree check out the Chinese Parasol tree

Little Kurrajong - Brachychiton bidwillii

Of all of the Kurrajong trees (Brachychiton genus) that are cultivated in Spain this is the one that I have seen the least. The images in this post are from a few trees that I found at the "Molino de Inca" botanical park in Torremolinos, Spain.

The flowers of the Little Kurrajong are similar to those of the "Lacebark Kurrajong" (also called the Pink Flame Tree). This tree had no leaves on it when I took these pictures which leads me to think that they drop their leaves when in flower much like the Illawara Flame tree (B. acerifolius).

The flowers grew in tight little clusters alone the branches with the biggest clusters occuring at the ends of the branches. One little curiosity was the flowers that were growing right out of the trunk at the base of the tree (below).

All of the trees that I saw had a significant bulge at the base right close to the ground (above).

In the image below you can see the seed pod of the Little Kurrajong which is very similar to the rest of the Kurrajong species. The one in this picture has dropped all of the seeds that it contained.

Bush Kurrajong - Brachychiton Discolor

The Bush Kurrajong (Brachychiton Discolor) is also called the Lacebark tree by some. It is a member of the Brachychiton genus of tree species that are all native to Australia. I have been studying the 5-6 different members of this tree family that are grown as urban trees in the south of Spain. In fact there are four different species of Brachychitons planted on my street within about 50 meters of my front entrance. These tree pictures come from one of these trees.

For quite some time I was quite confused with these trees until I realized that several of the trees on my block were hybrids. It turns out that there are several naturally occurring hybrids that are usually found in along the overlapping zones between the natural ranges of different brachychiton species. The B.discolor crosses with B.acerifolius to produce a hybrid that has been given the name "Clarabelle" which is one of the hybrids on my street. Another hybrid that I believe is present is a cross between b.discolor and B.populneus which is called "Griffith Pink".

The tree in these pictures though is what I believe to be the true B. discolor. Don´t quote me on this however since I am a long ways from Australia and with so many hybrids around this to may in fact be some sort of cross. Notice the bees in the two pictures above, they go from tree to tree along my street which means that they are probably an active agent in the cross pollination process.

One of the distinctive features of this brachychiton species is the fuzzy texture on the flower buds, flowers and seed pods. The color of this fuzzy almost felt like exterior is a sort of tan or skin color.
The leaves of this species, like all of the brachychitons, vary greatly from leaf to leaf. The two below were on the same branch and illustrate that this tree can have simple shaped leaves or multiple lobed leaves with 3-7 lobes. The leaves also tend to be somewhat asymmetrical with the lobe on one side having a slightly different shape than the opposite lobe.

Below are the fuzzy seed pods of the Bush Kurrajong in the typical five star pattern. They also grow with 2, 3 or 4 seed pods in the cluster as well. The seeds of this tree are reputed to be edible but I have never tried them. I did once try to extract them from the seed pod which was quite an endeavor. Each of these seed pods is about 3-4 inches long.


Similar trees
Brachychiton Acerifolius - Flame tree
Brachychiton populneus - Lacebark Kurrajong
Brachychiton bidwillii - Littel Kurrajong

Flame Tree - Brachychiton Acerifolius

The Flame tree (Brachychiton acerilolius) is not the only tree species to be called by the name "Flame" but in my opinion is the one that bests fits the name. It normally drops all of its leaves just prior to the blossoms forming in bright red clusters that turn the whole tree into one big mass of red. I found this tree in Malaga, Spain even though it is native to Australia. The Brachychiton acerifolius leaves are large and can vary from one to nine lobes (even on the same tree).

The flowers are like little bells, about 1cm across. They are bright red and do not vary in color. They are about the same size as the Brachychiton populneus "bells" but are a good deal smaller than the flowers of the Brachychiton discolor or Brachychiton bidwillii. The Flame tree also has a naturally occurring hybrid that is a cross with the B.discolor that is called "Clarabelle".

The images below are a serious of pictures that I have taken near my home that illustrate how the seedpods develop from flower to full maturity. Notice how in the first picture the seedpods are already forming inside of one of the small "bells".

In the next picture you can see what is left of the flower at the base of the growing seed pods.

These pods can grow in clusters of 2-5 and it is very common to see them in a star pattern like the one below.

Notice how at this state the flowers have all fallen off the tree but the leaves have yet to form. On some of the trees I have noticed that not all of the leaves fall off.
The seed pod cracks open when it is fully mature exposing a number of bright yellow seeds that are encased in a hairy coating.



If you like this tree you may also like these others as well...
Bush Kurrajong
Little Kurrajong
Weeping Bottlebrush tree
Brachychiton discolor x acerifolius "Clarabelle"