Brachychiton discolor

Brachychiton discolor is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows in drier rainforest areas. Scattered from Paterson, New South Wales (32° S) to Mackay, Queensland (21° S). There is also an isolated community of these trees at Cape York Peninsula.

Brachychiton discolor
Flower, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Brachychiton
Species:	B. discolor
Binomial name
Brachychiton discolor F.Muell.
Synonyms
Sterculia discolor F.Muell. Brachychiton luridum C.Moore

Common names include lacebark tree, lace kurrajong, pink kurrajong, scrub bottle tree, white kurrajong, hat tree and sycamore.

Description

An attractive tree up to 30 metres tall featuring pink flowers without petals. The trunk is straight, grey and cylindrical, up to 75 cm in diameter. It is not buttressed at the base. The twigs are hairy, brown and smooth.

The leaves are hairy and lobed in three, five or seven points. They are 10 to 20 cm in diameter, whitish underneath and dark green above. Leaf veins are visible on both sides.

Flowers form from November to February. They are pink, almost without stalks and 3 to 4 cm in diameter. Male and female flowers are separate and without petals. The fruit is a hairy boat-shaped follicle maturing from December to July. It is 7 to 20 cm long, containing up to 30 seeds, each 9 mm long. Germination from fresh seed occurs without difficulty.

Uses

Brachychiton discolor is widely planted as an ornamental tree. The wood is used to make shields by Indigenous Australians. The roasted seeds are edible to humans.

Gallery

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  Bark
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  Seed pod

References

• Floyd, A. G. (1989). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia (1st ed.). Port Melbourne: Elsevier Australia - Inkata Imprint, copyright Forestry Commission of New South Wales (published 1989-12-01). p. 390. ISBN 0-909605-57-2. Retrieved 2009-06-21. (other publication details, included in citation)
• "Brachychiton discolor". PlantNET - NSW Flora Online. Retrieved 2009-06-21.