Envoy at 06:00, 25 October 2007

2007-10-25T06:00:31Z

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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Brachychiton''
| image = Brachychiton Acerifolius-Tree2.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''B. acerifolius''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malvales]]
| familia = [[Sterculiaceae]]
| genus = ''Brachychiton''
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text.}}

'''''Brachychiton''''' ('''Kurrajong''', '''Bottletree''') is a [[genus]] of 31 [[species]] of [[tree]]s and large [[shrub]]s, native to [[Australia]] (the centre of diversity, with 30 species), and [[New Guinea]] (one species). Fossils from [[New South Wales]] and New Zealand are estimated to be 50 million years old, corresponding to the [[Tertiary]].

They grow to 4 – 30m tall, and some are dry-season [[deciduous]]. Several species (though not all) are [[pachycaul]] plants with a very stout stem for their overall size, used to store water during periods of [[drought]]. The [[leaf|leaves]] show intraspecific variation and generally range from entire to deeply palmately lobed with long slender leaflet-like lobes joined only right at the base. Their sizes range from 4 – 20cm long and wide.

All species are [[monoecious]] with separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The flowers have a bell-shaped [[perianth]] consisting of a single series of fused lobes which is regarded as a [[sepal | calyx]] despite being brightly coloured in most species. The female flowers have five separate [[carpels]] that can each form a woody fruit containing several seeds. The flower colour is often variable within species. Eastern forest species drop their foliage before flowering but those of the dryer regions carry the flowers while in leaf.

The name ''Brachychiton'' is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''brachys'', short, and ''chiton'', tunic, in referring to its loose [[seed]] coats. The generic name is often misconstrued as being of neuter gender, with the specific names then incorrectly amended. Thus ''B. rupestre'' and ''B. populneum'' are sometimes seen in horticultural books and magazines.
[[Image:Small flametree.jpg|right|thumb|200px|A Flame tree's inflorescence]]
''[[Kurrajong]]'' is an [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] word for "fibre-yielding-plant" {{Fact|date=July 2007}} and refers to the use of bark from many of these trees for weaving nets, ropes and baskets. A few Kurrajong species are popular garden trees and have been introduced to hot dry regions including the Mediterranean, South Africa and the western United States. These species are also hybridised for horticultural purposes, ''B. populneo-acerifolius'' being one example. Kurrajongs are however irregular flowerers.

===Selected species===
{|
|- valign=top
|
*''[[Brachychiton acuminatus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton acerifolius]]'' – Illawarra flame tree, Flame kurrajong, Couramyn
*''[[Brachychiton albidus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton australis]]'' – Broad-leaved bottletree, Large-leaved kurrajong
*''[[Brachychiton bidwillii]]'' – Little kurrajong, Pink lacebark
*''[[Brachychiton carruthersii]]''
*''[[Brachychiton chilligoensis]]''
*''[[Brachychiton collinus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton compactus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton discolor]]'' – Scrub bottletree, Queensland lacebark, Pink flame tree, White kurrajong
*''[[Brachychiton diversifolius]]''
*''[[Brachychiton fitzgeraldianus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton garrawayae]]''
*''[[Brachychiton grandiflorus]]''
|
*''[[Brachychiton gregorii]]'' – Desert kurrajong
*''[[Brachychiton incanus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton megaphyllus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton muellerianus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton obtusilobus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton paradoxus]]'' – Red-flowered kurrajong
*''[[Brachychiton populneus]]'' – Lacebark kurrajong, White-flower kurrajong, Bottle tree, Black kurrajong, Northern kurrajong
*''[[Queensland Bottle Tree|Brachychiton rupestris]]'' – Queensland bottle tree, Narrow-leaf bottletree, Queensland kurrajong
*''[[Brachychiton spectabilis]]''
*''[[Brachychiton tridentatus]]''
*''[[Brachychiton tuberculatus]]'' – Meayacka
*''[[Brachychiton velutinosus]]'' – Brush kurrajong
*''[[Brachychiton vitifolius]]''
*''[[Brachychiton xanthophyllus]]''
|}

==References==

*Guymer, G.P. (1988) A taxonomic revision of Brachychiton (Sterculiaceae). ''Australian Systematic Botany'' 1: 199-323.
*Macoboy, S. (1991) What tree is that?, ISBN 1 86302 1310

==External references==
* [http://www.bigscrubrainforest.org.au/bigscrub3.html Note on fossil age, Big Scrub Rainforest]
* [http://www.malvaceae.info/Fossil/Leaf.html Notes on Fossil Leaves, Stewart R. Hinsley, 2005]

[[Category:Sterculiaceae]]
[[Category:Trees]]

Brachychiton - Revision history

Envoy at 06:00, 25 October 2007