Western Queensland Road Trip #2 Roma
In western Queensland, the landscape is punctuated by native trees with a distinctive shape. Brachychiton rupestris, commonly known as the Queensland bottle tree, has a bottle shaped trunk designed to store water in the dry climate.
A very unusual specimen has been planted in the garden at the Miles Historical Village.
Further west in Roma, the more typical type of bottle tree is celebrated.
With more than 100 years’ growth, the largest bottle tree in the Roma district has a circumference of 9.51 metres and a canopy spreading more than 20 metres across.
More bottle trees line many of Roma’s wide streets. In 1918, 140 trees were planted by local families in remembrance of their loved ones – soldiers lost on the battlefields of World War One.
All along the heritage listed avenue, plaques beside the trees acknowledge the service of each soldier.
These trees hold precious memories as well as water!
Amazing Trees š
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They are amazing, and can live for a very long time. They’re very hardy.
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My heart was touched reading this post Carol. What a beautiful way to pay tribute to every life cut short – and what a wonderful tree!
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Avenues like this are common in Australia and they are a beautiful way to remember those who served. I love the bottle trees. They look so funky, especially when they are older and get quite rounded.
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The trees are very unusual, I saw one in the Sydney Botanical Gardens. This type of memorial appears to be quite an Australian thing, the longest avenue I believe is in Ballarat to represent all those serving in the war.
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Yes, there are many avenues like this, planted after the war. The one in Ballarat was the first and is the longest in Australia. It is 22km long and there is a tree for all serving members. It’s quite a sight.
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I have seen that one. It is rather amazing.
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Ballarat is Mr ET’s hometown so we go there frequently. It’s a beautiful city.
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I love that every single soldier is named and remembered, very personal.
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Never forgotten.
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I had never heard of these trees. Nature is amazing! Thank you for bringing this story to all of us. Each tree is a treasury!
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I’m pleased you enjoyed learning about them.
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These trees of remembrance are wonderful aren’t they?
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It’s a beautiful and long-lasting way to remember and acknowledge the soldiers’ service.
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Very true š
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What interesting trees! I don’t think I’ve even seen them before.
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You need to visit western Queensland, Lorraine.
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Great write up! Love the idea of the trees of remembrance.
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Thanks! We’ve seen avenues of honour like this in several Australian towns and cities. It’s a beautiful idea.
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Nature is a wonder and these trees are amazing examples of adapting to their environment. I chuckled at your first photo.
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I thought the first bottle tree was quite clever.
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What a wonderful memorial. I like the modern ābottle treeā too.
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It must have been a fun exercise gathering the materials for that modern tree. š
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Yeah, I could have helped with that bit!
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Is the bottle tree the same as the Boabs? I love all the Boabs in the top end, but didnāt realise there were similar trees in that part of the country. The older ones have so much character.
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No, they are both Brachychitons, but different families. These bottle trees only grow in western Queensland.
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Planting these trees is a wonderful idea on several levels, not only for remembrance but also to continue planting trees to replace others that have been cleared. I like the idea of using bottle trees.
We saw the Remembrance Drive in Ballarat during our recent trip to Victoria.
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And bottle trees have very long lives so they won’t need to be replaced very often.
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Very interesting post because the only bottle tree I’ve heard of was the one made with metal and bottles in the first photo. That one, I have. I googled to read more about the tree so I thank you for that learning moment. Not only is this an interesting specimen, but the history and sacrifice behind these particular ones are humbling. Thank you for sharing.
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The first one would a fun one to make, as you collected the required bottles. Glad you enjoyed learning more about this Australian native tree.
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They are great trees, aren’t they? I think it’s a wonderful way to pay tribute to the people who served.
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Avenues of Honour must be an Australian thing, because we’ve come across several in our travels.
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Maybe they are – they are not a thing I am aware of seeing any anywhere. We have a National Arboretum in Staffordshire which has lots of trees, but I think it is more of a place for memorials rather than trees being the memorial themselves.
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What beautiful trees! Great article!
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They do make a lovely display along the streets. Thanks.
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What a memorable way to honour those lost soldiers, the avenue is a fantastic idea and must be so interesting to visit. Seen a couple of avenues like this in Germany which were very poignant and thought-provoking too.
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There are several like this in Australia, but I love this one because it uses a tree which is a local native to honour locals.
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Love love the repurposing of bottles here! I have seen them incorporated into mud houses and I think that the more we reuse and repurpose both plastic, glass and all waste, the better off the planet will be. It is of course a “mindset” that we all need to wake up to. Terrfici post.
Peta
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Definitely, and even making the effort not to have single use items in the first place, which is not always easy but worth the effort.
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Great post. I loved learning about the bottle trees and how they are being used to remember those lost in WWI. Thanks.
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Glad you enjoyed it Susi. The trees make a beautiful display along the streets.
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You made me giggle at the start, but the trees are rather wonderful, Carol. Hope youāve had a lovely weekend. š š
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Just imagine collecting the bottles needed to create that first tree Jo! I did have a nice restful weekend, thank you.
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Such a beautiful memorial, Carol. Gives me goosebumps to think that each tree represents a fallen soldier.
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And the number of lost soldiers is quite amazing considering the population of the town wouldn’t have been very large at the time. Everyone would have known someone who never returned.
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Terrific photos
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Thank you Matti. š
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Those bottle trees are so cool, and how wonderful they were planted in memory of fallen soldiers!
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It’s a lovely way to remember them.
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