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Bottle Trees can grow in a wide variety of soils and aspects and can sustain temperatures from -5 to +45 degrees. They can be used to provide shade from the sun and shelter from the wind. The Bottle Tree is very versatile and easy to grow and will make a fantastic addition to just about any location or environment. The Queensland Bottle Tree used to be primarily used as a feature tree in larger landscapes – when given the space to thrive, its bottle-shaped trunk really stands out, making it a fantastic focal point. The Queensland Bottle Tree is now a protected species, meaning that it can no longer be harvested from the wild. It plays an important role in what has now become an endangered ecosystem; the way in which it emerges from above other trees and plants enables it to provide a safe habitat for several native species, many of which are now endangered. Source: www.designertrees.com.au/trees/bottle-trees/

Brachychiton rupestris, commonly known as the narrow-leaved bottle tree or Queensland bottle tree, is a tree in the family Malvaceae[a] native to Queensland, Australia. Described by Sir Thomas Mitchell and John Lindley in 1848, it gained its name from its bulbous trunk, which can be up to 3.5 metres (11 ft) in diameter at breast height (DBH). Reaching 10–25 metres (33–82 ft) high, the Queensland bottle tree is deciduous, losing its leaves between September and December. The leaves are simple or divided, with one or more narrow leaf blades up to 11 centimetres (4 in) long and 2 centimetres (0.8 in) wide. Cream-coloured flowers appear from September to November and are followed by woody boat-shaped follicles that ripen from November to May. No subspecies are recognised. As a drought-deciduous succulent tree, B. rupestris adapts readily to cultivation and is tolerant of a range of soils and temperatures. It is a key component and emergent tree in the endangered central semi-evergreen vine thickets—also known as bottletree scrub—of the Queensland Brigalow Belt. Remnant trees are often left by farmers on cleared land for their value as shade and fodder trees. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachychiton_rupestris

Jimbour is one of the oldest stations on the Darling Downs and the heritage-listed Jimbour Homestead is perhaps the grandest country home ever constructed in Queensland. The name Jimbour, originally spelled Gimba or Jimba is from an unidentified aboriginal language apparently referring to good grass or sheep. Thomas Bell came to Queensland from Northern Ireland in charge of convicts in around 1829 bringing his family. Thomas initially left the management of Jimbour to Henry Dennis but when Dennis was drowned in a shipwreck in 1847, he took up the management himself. The Bell family ran the property until 1892 and were responsible for the construction of the homestead and other important buildings on the property. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/jimbour-station-history-pictures#...

this is a fabulous series!