Cavanillesia arboreaBarriguda Bottle Tree

Nothing else in a plant schedule looks like Cavanillesia arborea. The trunk swells into a smooth grey barrel, ringed with horizontal growth marks and tapering abruptly into a few thick branches, and it stands leafless through much of the dry season with clusters of winged fruit hanging from the bare crown.

It is a specimen tree in the strict sense: planted singly, given room, and read as sculpture rather than as canopy. It comes from the seasonally dry forests of eastern Brazil and needs sharp drainage above everything else.

Specifications

• Height15 to 25 metres
• Width8 to 12 metres
• Native toSeasonally dry forests of eastern Brazil and Bolivia
• FoliagePalmately compound leaves carried only through the wet season; deciduous
• Growth rateModerate

Conditions

• SoilRequires deep, sharply drained soil and will not tolerate heavy or waterlogged ground
• LightFull sun
• WaterLow; the swollen trunk stores water and carries the tree through long dry seasons
• ClimateThrives in seasonally dry tropical and subtropical regions

Additional Features

• FlowersPink to red flowers borne on the bare crown at the end of the dry season
• UsesSpecimen and feature planting in plazas, entrances, botanic collections and dry gardens
• SpacingPlant 10 to 12 metres apart, or singly with clear ground around the trunk
• Low MaintenanceRequires almost no pruning; protect the soft bark from mowers and vehicle strike
• Pest ResistanceGenerally sound where drainage is good, though rot follows any wound in wet soil
• Drought ToleranceWater storage in the trunk makes it exceptionally tolerant of long dry periods
• FormA smooth, swollen, barrel-shaped trunk carrying a sparse and open crown

The Barriguda Bottle Tree is a sculptural specimen for a dry, free-draining site, and it should be given the space to be looked at.