Benefits of Trees - 1: Trees add unity
Trees as landmarks can give a neighborhood a new identity and encourage civic pride.
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.
I'd had never even heard of one of these, let alone seen one... thanks for the education Annie. (BtW, I'm sure you know the old adage - 'Those who can,do: those who can't, teach! There is actually a corollary to this... 'And those who can't teach, teach the teachers!" For a period of my life I used to train trainers - that probably explains a lot!)
Reminds me of the baobab tree, I saw in Kenya as a child. I have to look on google if it's the same family as the bottle tree. My dad used to called it the upside down tree, it must have been from a story (another thing I have to google; where's my memory gone?!).
