1885.] 



THE A USTRALIAN BOTTLE TREE. 



THE AUSTEALIAN BOTTLE TEEE. 



THIS oddity of the Australian woods may not lie unfamiliar to 

 many British readers. Tor tlie frequency of inter-travel betwixt 

 the youngest of our southern colonies, Queensland, the dwelling- 

 place of the bottle tree, is amongst the noted features of British 

 home life. This tree — Stcrcnlaria ruioestris, Benth. ; Brachychiton 

 Delabecliii, F. Mueller — belongs to a peculiar order, the Stcr- 

 culariacecc, confined to the tropics, noted for its unique forms, such 



as that of the boabab tree, but possessing as well the chocolate and 

 cocoa tree. There are several species of this genus in Australia, 

 only one of which is known to extend beyond the island continent. 

 None of these have as yet proved economically useful. But in 

 Asia several members of the order yield useful furniture wood ; 

 one yields material for canoe-building, and another supplies good 

 fibre. Tlie representative Stercularias of the Amazon district ranlv 

 in height and magnificence as the nionarchs of tlie forest. 



