Just as boabs are synonymous with WA’s Kimberley region, so are Queensland Bottle Trees synonymous with the Maranoa and as you travel along the Great Inland Way from Surat to Injune you are sure to spot these magnificent trees.
Also known as the Narrow Leafed Bottle Tree (Brachychiton rupestre), the name derives from the tree’s shape that becomes bottle-like as it ages. Trees growing in Brigalow Scrub tend to be taller as they reach for the light, while those growing in open country tend to be more squat.
You will find one of the biggest Bottle Trees right in Roma. With a girth of 9.51 metres it was transplanted here from a local property in 1927. It is estimated to be over 100 years old! Make sure you get a selfie with this Big Bottle.
You will also see Bottle Trees along Roma streets. The Heroes Avenue of 93 Bottle Trees creates a uniquely outback boulevard, remembering the men of Roma who died in WWI. The first tree was planted in 1918 supposedly in honour of Lieutenant Corporal Norman Saunders who was killed in France in 1916. That tree, outside the Post Office, near the corner of McDowell and Wyndham streets, is locally known as the Tree of Knowledge.
Originally each tree bore a brass name plate. Only one survives and it has become part of a cairn outside the Post Office, displaying all 93 names.