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... The opening up of the Binjour Plateau means a great thing for Queensland, and to those who understand the value of scrub selections, it will at once commend itself. On a dull day the cloud masses pass over the slopes of this great fertile region, promising plenty of moisture apart from the regular rains, to the grasses and the crops which now in the future will gladden the earth where the riotous tangle of scrub vines and brigalow hold their sway, and where the giant bottle-trees—those valuable adjuncts to the haystack in dry seasons—stand embowered. The Brisbane Courier, 02 Feb 1906 trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19432925#

Arthur Dixon, an official in the Union Bank, came to the region in 1868 from Yatala in South Australia. He purchased a block of scrubland on the Albert River from Captain Thomas Smales who had operated a ferry in the region in the 1860s but had moved to Cabbage Tree Point. Arthur Dixon named the property Yatala after his previous home in South Australia. In 1874 Arthur Dixon died and William Witty purchased the property. He continued to use the name Yatala for the plantation and sugar mill which he worked in conjunction with his existing plantation Yellowood. Yatala is located about three kilometers south of Beenleigh and, in the days of the large sugar plantations, was the mail and business center for the immediate area. In 1871, Thomas Hanlon built his hotel at Yatala on the coach route to Nerang and close to the wharf site used by local steamers traveling up and down the Albert River. In the same year, Yatala saw the formation of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society of Southern Queensland. Downstream from Yatala, on the Albert River, lies the Beenleigh Rum Distillery which was officially founded in 1884 and is Australia’s oldest registered distillery. By the early 20th century, the sugar plantations were cut up into smaller farming blocks and the village of Yatala, halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, captured passing trade by offering amenities to travelers including a hotel, pie shop, and fish shop. In 1965, the Pacific Highway bypassed the area. Despite this change to the transport route and fluctuations in business activity, by the 1980s, Yatala had developed as a commercial and light industrial area Source: www.goldcoaststories.com.au/yatala/

The bottle tree has one of the most visually interesting shapes. It's botanically known as Brachychiton rupestris, it's a member of the Malvaceae family and is also commonly known as the Queensland bottle tree, or narrow leaf bottle tree. The common name derives from the tree's shape, which becomes bottle-like as it ages at between five and eight years of age. Some people believe the tree is hollow but the swelling is due to the water held in its trunk. The bottle tree is semi-deciduous and reaches 18 to 20 meters. But if grown in cooler regions it's usually smaller. The leaves are about a hundred millimeters long and these drop from the tree before flowering. The bell-shaped, or campanulate, yellowish flowers usually form between October and December in clusters at the end of the branches. Source: www.abc.net.au/gardening/how-to/bottle-trees/9428532