bottle tree

species: Brachychiton populneus

common name: bottle tree, Kurrajong

family: Malvaceae

where & when encountered: Gonzales, CA - 2010

Australia excels at producing bizarre trees and to stumble upon a whole row of these, apparently serving as a windbreak or privacy screen, was quite an experience. Both the flowers (above) and the pods (below) are equally eye-grabbing. Whether the common names "bottle tree" and "Kurrajong" are interchangeable is not clear. What is known is that California, Arizona and Louisiana are all states that have introduced these curiosities.