Brachychiton rupestris in the family Malvaceae, commonly known as the Queensland bottle tree, is native to Queensland, Australia. Discovered and described by Sir Thomas Mitchell and John Lindley in 1848, it gained its name from its bulbous trunk, which can be up to 3.5 metres (11 ft) diameter at breast height. Reaching 10–25 metres (33–82 ft) high, the tree is deciduous, losing its leaves between September and December. Cream flowers appear from September to November, followed by woody boat- shaped follicles that ripen from November to May. It is an emergent tree in the endangered central semi-evergreen vine thickets of the Brigalow Belt. Remnant trees are often left by farmers on cleared land to provide shade and fodder. As a drought-deciduous succulent tree, the bottle tree adapts readily to cultivation and is tolerant of a range of soils and temperatures. It is found planted in streets, parks, and gardens and on farms. An avenue in Roma, Queensland, was planted between 1918 and 1920, each tree representing one of 93 local men killed in World War I. The species is also cultivated as an indoor plant and a bonsai subject.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachychiton_rupestris

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1724:

Philip V, the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, abdicated in favor of his eldest son Louis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_V_of_Spain

1814:

Sweden and Denmark–Norway signed the Treaty of Kiel, whereby Frederick VI of Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden in return for the Swedish holdings in Pomerania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Kiel

1943:

Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, and Henri Giraud (all pictured) met in Casablanca to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_Conference

1960:

The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank and banknote-issuing authority, was established. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_Australia

1978:

Austrian logician Kurt Gödel, who suffered from an obsessive fear of being poisoned, died of starvation after his wife was hospitalized and unable to cook for him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_G%C3%B6del

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

scale: 1. Part of an overlapping arrangement of many small, flat and hard pieces of keratin covering the skin of an animal, particularly a fish or reptile. 2. A small piece of pigmented chitin, many of which coat the wings of a butterfly or moth to give them their color. 3. A flake of skin of an animal afflicted with dermatitis. 4. A pine nut of a pinecone. 5. The flaky material sloughed off heated metal. 6. Scale mail (as opposed to chain mail). 7. Limescale. 8. A scale insect. 9. The thin metallic side plate of the handle of a pocketknife. […] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scale

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Let me give you a definition of ethics: It is good to maintain and further life — it is bad to damage and destroy life. And this ethic, profound and universal, has the significance of a religion. It is religion.   --Albert Schweitzer https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer