''Brachychiton discolor'' is a rainforest tree of eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It grows in drier rainforest areas. Scattered from

Paterson, New South Wales Paterson is a small township in the lower Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Located within Dungog Shire, it is situated on the Paterson River. It is in the middle of what was once dairy, timber and citrus country and is now more signi ...

(32° S) to

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

(21° S). There is also an isolated community of these trees at

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

. 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. Not buttressed at the base. Twigs hairy, brown and smooth. Leaves are hairy; lobed in three, five or seven points. 10 to 20 cm in diameter. Whitish underneath, dark green above. Leaf veins visible on both sides. Flowers form from November to February. The flowers are pink, almost without stalks, 3 to 4 cm in diameter. Separate male and female flowers ''without petals''. The fruit is a hairy boat shaped follicle maturing from December to July. 7 to 20 cm long, containing up to 30 seeds, 9 mm long. Germination from fresh seed occurs without difficulty.

Uses

Widely planted as an ornamental tree. Wood used as shields by

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. Roasted seeds edible to humans.

References

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(other publication details, included in citation)
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q287052 discolor Malvales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Ornamental trees Edible nuts and seeds Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller