Brachychiton acerifolius

The Illawarra flame tree drops its glossy, maple-shaped leaves in late spring and then covers its bare frame in scarlet bell flowers, so completely that the canopy reads as a single block of colour against a summer sky. For the rest of the year it is a clean, grey-trunked shade tree with handsome lobed foliage.

In the landscape

Given room in open lawn or parkland the flowering reads as a single mass of colour, which is how the tree earns its place. It also works as an avenue at 8–10 m centres and as a street tree, with roots that stay well behaved near paving. Planted in sequence with jacaranda it extends the flowering season through late spring and early summer, and it pairs comfortably with lower native understorey that can take the summer leaf drop.

Growing notes

Deciduous only around flowering, dropping its glossy maple-shaped leaves in late spring before setting scarlet bells through November to January, then refoliating quickly. Suited to Queensland, coastal and tableland New South Wales and the warmer parts of Victoria; established trees take moderate frost, though young stock should be protected. It accepts most soils provided drainage is genuine, grows quickly in youth and reaches roughly 10–20 m tall by 6–10 m wide in the ground. Drought tolerant once settled. Flowering is heaviest on older trees and after a dry winter, and seed-grown trees can flower irregularly for their first years.

This tree

Grown in the tropics at Donkin Farm, north Queensland.

• Currently standing: 64 trees

Field-grown ex-ground at Donkin Farm, Utchee Creek, root-pruned and basket-lifted, delivered and craned Australia-wide. Price on application through the Shortlist.