5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Queensland Bottle Tree

Whether you’re considering purchasing a Queensland Bottle Tree or you already have one growing happily in your garden, it’s always worth learning a little more about the trees that feature in your life. When it comes to the Queensland Bottle Tree, this is a species that is famous for its rich history, yet there’s still so much about it that people don’t know.

 

The Queensland Bottle Tree is in the Mallow Family

 You’re probably familiar with some of the more well-known plants in the mallow family. Hibiscus, okra, cotton, cacao, and hollyhock are just a few species in this genus of hundreds. While that may be the case, many don’t realise that the Queensland Bottle Tree is also a member of this much-loved plant family.

There are 30 bottle tree species altogether. Almost all of them are native to Australia, with the Queensland Bottle Tree being the most popular.

 

The Queensland Bottle Tree Doesn’t Have a Hollow Trunk

It’s common knowledge that the Queensland Bottle Tree stores water in its bottle-shaped trunk, leading many to believe that the interior of the trunk is hollow. However, this is definitely not the case.

While it’s true that the trees are capable of storing vast amounts of water, their trunks are actually very fibrous. The water is stored between the trunk and the inner bark, with that bark being soft enough to carve out into a larger reservoir.

 

It Takes 5-8 Years for a Bottle Tree to Develop its Bottle-Shaped Trunk

If you’ve purchased a young Queensland Bottle Tree, don’t be disappointed if its trunk doesn’t yet have that distinct bottle shape. It takes 5-8 years for a Queensland Bottle Tree to develop its iconic shape. You can help to speed things along by making sure that you’re caring for it in the best way possible.

 

The Queensland Bottle Tree Can Be Used in Numerous Ways

More and more people are looking for multipurpose trees for their gardens, and the Queensland Bottle Tree more than meets that criteria. In fact, the Aboriginals used to depend on this tree for a few different reasons – it provided food, water, shelter, and even rope.

While you probably won’t be harvesting your garden trees in quite the same way, it’s always good to know that they have this extra potential!

 

The Queensland Bottle Tree Can Be Grown in a Pot

Take a look at the Queensland Bottle Trees growing wild around Australia’s landscapes and you’d have a hard time imagining one in a pot. However, this tree is actually very well suited to container growing.

This means that even those with small gardens can experience the joy of growing a Queensland Bottle Tree. So long as you pick a quality container (we would recommend a large GRC pot) and make sure that your tree is receiving enough water during the hotter months, your Queensland Bottle Tree should thrive in a pot!

Elegant and attention-grabbing, it’s easy to see why the Queensland Bottle Tree is so popular. If you’d like to add one to your garden, check out the selection that we have available at our nursery.

 

1 thought on “5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Queensland Bottle Tree”

  1. I grew two trees that I believe were Queensland bottle trees from seed in one gallon pots. I left them in the pots for about 5 years. They grew to about two and a half feet high in that time. The interesting thing to me was that when I removed them from the pots for transplanting I saw that they had grown large tubers that filled up almost half the pot. One of them had grown a root through the pot into the ground more than two feet deep.

    The one that didn’t have the large root has grown very rapidly. In about six months it has more than doubled in size since I planted it in the ground. I was also surprised at how different the leaves were on my plants from the leaves on a fully adult tree.

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