Brachychiton is a principally Australian genus, with a few species in Papua New Guinea. It occurs in seasonally dry habitats in eastern, northern and central Western Australia. Most species drop their maple-like leaves when water is scarce, although a few, like B. populneus and B. gregorii hang onto them until severe drought forces them to cast the leaves off.
This kurrajong is endemic to the Chillagoe – Almaden area, where it grows on the fractured, crumbling slopes of rock outcrops. It also occurs in the dry vine thickets that nestle between limestone cliffs, where they're sheltered — a little — from fires. I have a soft spot for kurrajongs, although I know next to nothing about them, so I wasn't going to miss the chance of visiting this one in its home. I'm also fond of short-range endemics — and I know rather more about those — so I was doubly excited by the opportunity.
The tree is recorded as flowering from late May to October, but only a few bell-shaped blossoms clung to the branches of the individuals I saw.
'You're not going to take a photo of that?' one of my friends asked as I scratched away debris to uncover a fallen flower.
'Why, yes. Yes, I am.'
And I got the sort of look that I might have received had I been on the wrong side of the bars at Bedlam.
But I took the photo anyway.
As kurrajongs shed their leaves when they bloom, a tree covered in these blossoms must be a spectacular sight. And I missed it by that much. Next time ...
Reference
Guymer, GP. (1988). A taxonomic revision of Brachychiton (Sterculiaceae). Australian Systematic Botany 1: 199 – 323.