Dear Friends

Do anyone of you growing this plant 'Austrilian bottle tree',the one that iam growing here had come to me from Brother M@x a year ago.Its growing okay.

Iam just curious as how would this look when they grow big ? what is the soil & sun requirements for this plant ? And in the following post you can see the one that is growing in our garden !

Thanks & love,

Kris

Here's the still of that plant..

love,

Kris

Full sun, well draining soil, keep it on the dry side. They're fast growing and go upwards first before they start to bottle. They grow very well here in SoCal. I'm sure the guys in OZ will have some great photos. Here's Danny Lewis getting up close and personal with a 25yr. old specimen in a private garden:

Kris,

Here are some photos from Australia of the Brachychiton rupestris

In habitat near Theodore in Queensland

Used as a street tree in Taroom Queensland

Bruce

anyone know if these are usually slow to get established? i've had 1 in the ground for almost 3 years & it hardly grows...

Full sun, well draining soil, keep it on the dry side. They're fast growing and go upwards first before they start to bottle. They grow very well here in SoCal. I'm sure the guys in OZ will have some great photos. Here's Danny Lewis getting up close and personal with a 25yr. old specimen in a private garden:

Hi,

I think Peter the photo you show is a south american ceiba speciosa formerly Chorisia speciosa and not an australian bottle tree wich is a brachychiton( rupestris, acerifolia, populneus...)

Ciao.

Gilles06.

I think it is Australian bottle tree, Ceiba speciosa would have some thorns.

Anyway - the first tree is growing in the carpark at work. I think it is B. australis, but correct me if I am wrong.

Regards, Ari

The second tree is growing in the carpark at the nearby supermarket. I think it is Brachychiton acerifolius.

I am growing both... but they are still in pots. Probably next year, they will be planted in the garden. For australian natives, they are rather slow grower. But once they get established, they should speed up. I don't have any B. rupestris... It will be my next purchase... I love the look of those bottle trees...

Regards, Ari

Brachychiton does just fine here....in Jordan.

I have grown some from seeds.

I have Brachychiton acerifolius, populneus, and rupestris. Populneus is very fast growing and has grown fast for me. I planted it as a 2 foot tall sapling almost 4 years ago and it is now 15+ feet tall. Seems to have stalled there and appears to be filling out now. Acerifolius has grown even faster, but usually gets knocked back a little each winter so it is a foot or two shorter. Rupestris was planted last summer in the shade of an oak tree. Last years low of 25F did not bother it. It is currently 4 feet tall.

Paul, they are fairly fast growers, so something is definitely wrong there. And Gilles, that's most definitely a Brachychiton and not a Ceiba(Chorisia)

Paul, they are fairly fast growers, so something is definitely wrong there. And Gilles, that's most definitely a Brachychiton and not a Ceiba(Chorisia)

Hi Peter,

Some ceiba have a lot of spins other no, and we can see some on the trunk of your photo. Look at the pink flowers down on the trunk, they look like ceiba flowers!

Friendly.

Gilles06.

Hi Gilles, yes, there is in fact a Ceiba just out of frame, and you are seeing the flowers on the ground-good eyes. However, the tree pictured is still a Brachychiton; it is in the garden of Bill Baker and I've been there many times. Here is a shot of the whole tree:

Here are the leaves:

Best,

Peter

Edited November 22, 200817 yr by Peter

Hi again Peter,

You're right. I apologize.

Ciao.

Gilles06.

http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/s...hBottleTree.jpg

http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/s...66FlameTree.jpg

Northern California specimens

No worries Gilles, no need to apologize

Wow, Nelson, that is an amazing specimen.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rasker/2499720731/

This is a nice combination of Flame Tree, Jacaranda , Bunya Bunya and Hoop Pine. We are trying this same combination in Union City, Ca. USA. The Hoop pine seeds just came in, so we will be growing them for the collection. I think some Jubaeas will compliment this planting too.

Nelson

anyone know if these are usually slow to get established? i've had 1 in the ground for almost 3 years & it hardly grows...

Paul--

As Peter said, should be a fairly fast grower. I suspect you have a root-bound specimen. They are VERY commonly overgrown in containers before shifting up. Save these runts for the "bonsai" trade...

it didnt seem root-bound when i planted it.

can anyone suggest a way to give it a little nudge...?

Have you fertilized it Paul?

Ari, Your second pic is not B. acerfolius. Probably B. populneus which is becoming quite popular as an avenue tree here in SoCal. B. acerfolius has leaves that remind me of a Papaya.

Brachchiton rupestris is the species first posted that needs a kick star. This species doesn't need much water. They grow faster without water. Make sure there are no air pockets around roots, jet soil gently with a fire hose nozzle, Use plant health care the get the roots stimulated. Make sure you didn't plant the tree too low as it will cut off oxygen. I planted one in a irrigated lawn and one in a non irrigated area. The one in the non irrigated area grew three times faster.

http://www.planthealthcare.com/

Matty B

Those are immature leaves on your flame tree.

Those are immature leaves on your flame tree.

Nelson,

Brachychiton are kind of rare in Florida and are routinely misidentified here. I have seen the skinny leaves like in Kris's pic, the palmately lobed like in Matty's pics, on another tree labeled as "acerifolius" it has simple leaves that look like avocado. A B. discolor has wide palmate but not deeply lobed leaves. I have never seen these change from a juvenile leaf form to adult leaf form. What will Matty's look like at maturity? Will they look like the simple avocado like leaves?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Jery

Those are immature leaves on your flame tree.

Nelson,

Brachychiton are kind of rare in Florida and are routinely misidentified here. I have seen the skinny leaves like in Kris's pic, the palmately lobed like in Matty's pics, on another tree labeled as "acerifolius" it has simple leaves that look like avocado. A B. discolor has wide palmate but not deeply lobed leaves. I have never seen these change from a juvenile leaf form to adult leaf form. What will Matty's look like at maturity? Will they look like the simple avocado like leaves?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Jery

Jerry--

B. acerifolius usually develops adult foliage that is simple, like a longer avocado leaf. It is the most common species in SoFla. B. discolor also seems to grow well, though I haven't seen any flower.

At Fairchild sales, I've also seen the hybrid between B. acerifolius and B. populneus. I think there is one growing at the Kampong.

I'd suspect that it may be too wet to successfully grow B. populneus and B. rupestris in SoFla?

Ken.

Ken,

As I said earlier, they are routinely mis ID'd here, but I will tell you what we are "supposed" to be growing in the Arboretum.

We have a fair sized discolor that has bloomed for us, once. And by once I mean that, I have only seen one flower on that tree. I grew it from seed collected from a prolific bloomer in Oakland Park, which unfortunately, is not there anymore. There used to be a nice one behind the Riverside Hotel in downtown Lauderdale, but I have not been there in years and there has been much development so who knows if it is still there.

We have an "acerifolius" with the deeply lobed leaves like Matty's. It is close to 20' tall but still has these "juvenile" leaves.

We have two grafted trees. They are both the same thing, "rupestris" root stock with "acerifolius" scion. These were imported from Australia through the Tropical Flowering Tree Society so hopefully this is a good ID. Normally in Australia, they graft the acerifolius at about 6 feet or so to get that very fat base with a more upright flowering top, but import restrictions will not allow a plant that tall. The arboretum's are grafted at one foot so this might be a unique looking tree. The leaves on the scions are the avocado looking simple leaves.

All are growing fine and strong and show no problem in our soil or climate.

Jerry

I have never heard anyone grafting B. acerifolius.

The reason why I thought the ones at the carpark was one was the 'green' bark and I got it identified by the NT Herbarium . It has never flowered as far as I know. They don't necessarily flower well up here. They actually do better in Brisbane, but I like the tree anyway.

Regards, Ari

http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Brachychiton/gallery.html

Nice Brachychiton website with leaf types.

Grafted Brachychitons

http://www.australisplants.com.au/ornament...rachychiton.htm

...

I'd suspect that it may be too wet to successfully grow B. populneus and B. rupestris in SoFla?

Ken.

Ken,

I saw several B. rupestris growing very well in Singapore's Bird Park, and FYI, Singapore is one of the wettest place on Earth! I tried to take pictures but it was raining and the pictures were not quite good.

Also the Flame Tree B. ecerfolius is the floral emblem [soon to be changed ] of the Cardwell Shire . the wettest place in Australia . My enormous one out the back is flowering now . I have seen a few of the Bottle spp. growing very well in the garden of Orchid Society members back in Childers , they watered heaps and had got very fast growth in the deep rich red volcanic soil.

Edited November 26, 200817 yr by aussiearoids

Any chance of a photo Michael?

We have an "acerifolius" with the deeply lobed leaves like Matty's. It is close to 20' tall but still has these "juvenile" leaves.

Jerry

I have 3 acerifolius in the ground. All from the same seed batch but planted at different times to the ground. Very fast growing here. The oldest is over 20' tall and still has those deeply lobed leaves as do the 3 at Ho`omaluhia Gardens where I got the seeds. Perhaps it's only in "cold" country that the leaves change shape.

Here is my Bottle Tree it's about 15 feet tall now. In the ground for maybe 3 years from a skinny stick in a one gallon pot maybe 2.5 feet tall.

This is a 2 year old pic. and it was approx 10 m then ,, will see if I can get another pic from approx the same spot .

Nice!

I recently bought a grafted B. acerifolius thats label said that it would only grow to 3 metres.

I queried this with the owner of the nursery and she said it has got something to do with the grafting process and it dwarfs them.

I used to work there, so I know she wouldnt have been deliberately lying to me, but I still don't trust the tree.

So I ended up planting it in a spot where it doesnt really matter if it gets big.

I'll post a pic tomorrow to show you all the leaf shape.

Mine looks more like a liquidamber. I cant think of what an avocado looks like.

That is a great looking tree. I wish it grew better in Florida.

So it doesn't do well here in Florida? Also, are the roots invasive? And are the leaves poisonous? This looks like a very interesting tree - another one I would like to try.

Eric, do you have one at Leu?

We have several Brachychiton species growing well here, including B. rupestris, the Bottle Tree.

Looks like a really good one to plant on the west side of my barn - away from it - to provide afternoon shade. Between it and my neighbor's mango tree, the entire side would be in shade.

Now all I have to do is find one!