| Common Name: |
Peanut Tree |
| |
|
| Family: |
Sterculiaceae |
| |
|
| Form and Size: |
A small, straight tree, usually grows up to 5 - 10m high with spreading
canopy and deciduous. |
| |
|
| Leaves: |
Broadly egg-shaped, sometimes heart-shaped at the base, dark green
and smooth above, paler and finely hairy with tiny pores beneath.
The veins are prominent and clustered towards the ends. |
| |
|
| Flowers: |
Greenish-yellow, softly hairy, softly hairy and somewhat bell-shaped,
borne in small clusters. |
| |
|
| Flowering Period: |
November to January. |
| |
|
| Fruit: |
Smooth and leathery, egg-shaped, orange to red when ripe, opening
to boat-shape when ripe with bright red inside and up to 8 shiny black
seeds the size and shape of a peanut. |
| |
|
| Cultivation/Notes: |
Propagate from seed. Hardy and fairly fast growing, it will prosper
in most well drained soils. Useful as a shade or shelter trees and
good for coastal stabilisation work. The seed are edible and the Aborigines
used many parts of the tree. |
|
