{"id":18576,"date":"2018-07-25T14:51:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T12:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?p=18576"},"modified":"2022-01-18T14:25:44","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T13:25:44","slug":"kurrajong-a-house-tree-with-edible-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?p=18576","title":{"rendered":"Kurrajong: a house tree with edible roots!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kurrajong is an Australian tree, <em>Brachychiton populneus<\/em>, which along with other species of the genus make interesting house plants due to their interesting leaves. Kurrajong leaves resemble poplar leaves as the epithet populneus suggests. It\u2019s a common tree of sandy plains in Eastern Australia. The seeds are remarkably nutritious and were popular Aborigine tucker (wild gathered food).\u00a0 It is unlikely I will ever be able to harvest seed of this tree in the Malvaceae (mallow family), but Rowan White on the Radix Root Crops FB group reminded me that the swollen roots of young trees could also be eaten.\u00a0 My tree wasn\u2019t exactly young at 9 years (seed propagated along with <em>Brachychiton acerifolius<\/em>),\u00a0 when I first decided to have a go in 2012, at the same time as I moved it to a bigger pot\u2026<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-18576 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18578'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"751\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850329.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-18578\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850329.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850329-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850329-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-18578'>\n\t\t\t\tBrachychiton acerifolius  (Illawarra flame tree) is another beautiful tree growing in my living room forest garden&#8230;.making an attempt to escape&#8230;it&#8217;s been suggested I make a hole in the ceiling so that it can grow on up into my bedroom where it could flower and produce nuts that I could harvest from bed ;) (this tree is often planted as an ornamental street tree in the tropics, see https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yaqnnm65) \n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18577'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/574928_10150908620095860_299226768_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-18577\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/574928_10150908620095860_299226768_n.jpg 480w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/574928_10150908620095860_299226768_n-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/574928_10150908620095860_299226768_n-300x400.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-18577'>\n\t\t\t\tBrachychiton acerifolius leaves\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>There were 3 young roots worth trying so I harvested them and baked them in their skins together with potatoes. They seem to need a bit longer than potatoes. The skins peeled easily off after baking and they were crispy with a good mild taste. If you have a ready supply of seed, they can be grown and harvested a bit like carrots when quite young!<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-18576 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18587'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/399209_10151319323815860_1494794346_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18587\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/399209_10151319323815860_1494794346_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/399209_10151319323815860_1494794346_n-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18587'>\n\t\t\t\tKurrajong doesn&#8217;t often if  ever experience snow, here&#8217;s my plant with earth removed (December 2012)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18586'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/12285_10151319324255860_289008353_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18586\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/12285_10151319324255860_289008353_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/12285_10151319324255860_289008353_n-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18586'>\n\t\t\t\tThe small young roots were harvested\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18585'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/537638_10151319324460860_1738190219_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18585\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/537638_10151319324460860_1738190219_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/537638_10151319324460860_1738190219_n-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18585'>\n\t\t\t\tRoots removed, hope it doesn&#8217;t kill my tree (it didn&#8217;t!)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18584'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/29574_10151319324470860_549339654_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/29574_10151319324470860_549339654_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/29574_10151319324470860_549339654_n-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/29574_10151319324470860_549339654_n-300x400.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18583'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/556706_10151319323855860_1684541577_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18583\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/556706_10151319323855860_1684541577_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/556706_10151319323855860_1684541577_n-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18583'>\n\t\t\t\tReady for baking\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18582'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/403496_10151319323895860_1677317172_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18582\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/403496_10151319323895860_1677317172_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/403496_10151319323895860_1677317172_n-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18582'>\n\t\t\t\tAfter 45 minutes in the oven\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18581'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/598578_10151319324175860_1378724897_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18581\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/598578_10151319324175860_1378724897_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/598578_10151319324175860_1378724897_n-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18581'>\n\t\t\t\tThey peeled easily\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18580'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"568\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/385169_10151319324215860_1029363487_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18580\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/385169_10151319324215860_1029363487_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/385169_10151319324215860_1029363487_n-300x266.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18580'>\n\t\t\t\tCrispy non-fibrous roots\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18579'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"660\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/523711_10151319330040860_525476317_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18579\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/523711_10151319330040860_525476317_n.jpg 480w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/523711_10151319330040860_525476317_n-218x300.jpg 218w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/523711_10151319330040860_525476317_n-300x413.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18579'>\n\t\t\t\tKurrajong leaf\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=18588'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/559589_10150908698375860_341445216_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-18588\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/559589_10150908698375860_341445216_n.jpg 640w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/559589_10150908698375860_341445216_n-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-18588'>\n\t\t\t\tKurrajong leaf\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>This spring the tree died (at 15 years old) with no sign of life in the above ground parts, but when disposing of the plant I noticed that the young roots looked healthy, so I harvested them and repotted the remainder of the root to see if it might resprout and after several weeks in the window sill it now has fresh leaves, so not dead after all!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18589 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850328.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"694\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850328.jpg 600w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850328-259x300.jpg 259w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850328-300x347.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t get round to eat the young roots&#8230;they were left inside for a month and looked withered and inedible, but cutting in to one it looked good inside and indeed it was tasty and almost free from fibre&#8230;.so we ate it in a stir-fry dish last night!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18590 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850315.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850315.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850315-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/P1850315-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kurrajong is an Australian tree, Brachychiton populneus, which along with other species of the genus make interesting house plants due to their interesting leaves. Kurrajong leaves resemble poplar [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1423,1462,7,261],"tags":[365,3135,761],"class_list":["post-18576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-house-plants","category-nut-trees","category-trees","category-tubers","tag-australia","tag-brachychiton-acerifolius","tag-brachychiton-populneus"],"views":11780,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18576"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29879,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18576\/revisions\/29879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}