Rejoice, for as the Illawarra Flame Trees (Brachychiton acerifolius) start to lose their gorgeous red blossoms, the Kurrajongs (Brachychiton populneus) are coming into flower!

The pretty bell-shaped flowers are creamy-coloured with a pink speckled interior that reminds me of an eggshell turned inside out. Kurrajong is much less common than the Flame Tree in the Illawarra region, and tends to occur more in the south, but luckily there are a few fine specimens around in parks, streets and gardens.

The specimen pictured below is growing near the pedestrian overpass running between West Wollongong TAFE and the University of Wollongong, which makes the flowers very easy to see and appreciate. 

When young, Kurrajongs have a neat narrow or pyramidal form, though as they age the shape of the canopy may become more irregular. The leaves have some resemblance to those of the Flame Tree, and have a similar tendency to be variable, sometimes being egg-shaped and sometimes with three separate lobes.  

Kurrajong is also widespread in the west of the state, meaning that it's well adapted to hot, dry, difficult conditions.

I'm surprised that it isn't more widely used as a street and garden tree. As with many towns and cities in Australia, there was a period in the 1970s and early 80s when a wide range of Australian native trees were added to council verges. Since then, until recent efforts at urban greening, there has been a general process of attrition as drought, disease, powerline clearances and other factors took out tree after tree.

I'd love to see the Kurrajong planted all around the place and its performance compared with the Illawarra Flame Tree systematically assessed.    

Emma Rooksby is the coordinator of the Growing Illawarra Natives website