Australian
bottle tree
is very common in
some places.
Also called Australian baobab, gadawon, dead rat-, gouty stem- and
bottle tree, it is a medium-sized tree that have a
trunk that looks like a bottle.
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Boab Tree of the Kimberley
Adaptations
The parts of Australia, Africa and Madagascar where this tree is found,
are all relatively dry, at least during one season of the year. During
the dry season, these trees drop their leaves, and grow new leaves in
the beginning of wet season again.
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Bark, Leaves, Flowers and Fruits
It has got a brown smooth bark, which turns grey in older trees. It has
got alternate, palmate leaves with leaflets radiating from the end of
the leaf stalk. The leaves are dark green above and pale below, with
soft hair on the underside. It has got creamy white flowers, about 10cm
long, which appear most of the year, but the best time to see them is
in the spring while the tree is still leafless. The fruits are black or
dark brown, about 20cm long and they ripe in late summer and early
autumn.
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Habitat
In Australia, the tree is found in parts of Kimberley
in northern parts of Western
Australia; and in the north-eastern parts
of Northern
Territory.
It lives on rocky outcrops in open woodlands, and as you drive through
those areas, there are plenty of bottle trees right next to the main
roads.
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Queensland Bottle Tree
Where Else to See Boab Tree
You can occasionally see them in other parts of Australia, where they
have been planted to parks and botanical gardens, but sometimes even to
the wild nature. The Queensland
Bottle Tree looks a bit similar but is a different species.
Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
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