Brachychiton acerifolius, or the Illawarra Flame Tree, is an Australian native tree that looks absolutely fantastic in spring when the flowers come out. The flowers are bright red and stand out a mile, always putting a smile on my face when I see them. The binomial name has the following meaning:

• Brachychiton-comes from two Greek words-‘brachys’ means short while ‘chiton’ means an outer covering, referring to the loose, outer covering of the seed.
• Acerifolius-this comes from Latin, meaning leaves like a maple (the genus is Acer)

This delightful deciduous tree can grow up to 35 metres tall. Naturally, it is a sub-tropical rainforest tree that grows from Wollongong (which is a city in the Illawarra region of New South Wales) south of Sydney north to Queensland, in coastal districts.

The leaves show heteroblasty, which is where the leaves differ between the juvenile and adult stages of the tree. The juvenile leaves have lobes, being 30cm long with petioles (leaf stems) to 70cm long. The adult leaves are a little more variable in that they can have an entire margin or have three lobes. They are shiny are both sides, but paler on the underside.They are rhombic to ovate in shape to 25cm long.

The flowers are red and bell-shaped, appearing when the leaves fall from the tree. In this, though, the trees can be variable. Some trees flower profusely with no leaves at all, while others trees have some leaves and flowers at the same time. They are 1-2cm wide, with absent petals and appear in large axillary panicles. They appear in late spring and early summer (December to January here in Australia). Flowers are followed by a boat-shaped pod, which is botanically a follicle. It’s black, glabrous (smooth/hairless), and 15cm long. These pods contain seeds that look like corn, often covered by hairs within the pod.

This tree is the most frequently cultivated within the Brachychiton genus, mainly because of the flowers. They flower in 5-8 years from seed. These trees are happy in a range of soils, and in temperate to tropical climates. To propagate this tree from seed is easy without any pre-treatment-just make sure you use gloves as the hairs are irritating. The flame tree is can be propagated by grafting-use scions of mature material. From this, you will get a tree that flowers earlier than seed-grown trees.

If you grow this tree, you do need enough space as 30-35 metres is still tall. If you don’t factor in this size, it could mean you grow to dislike it as it grows. Beyond that, I think it is a fabulous tree for the garden, or seeing it in its natural environment. It is also used as a street tree.