Tropical Plant Database - Plant Details

Commersonia bartramia, also known by the common name Brown kurrajong, is a small tree that grows up to 20 m tall with white to gray mottled bark and conspicuous lenticels on the bark for gas exchange into the plant. The leaves are ovate with serrated margins and are 6-15 cm long and 4-10 cm wide. The underside of the leaf is densely covered with yellow to gray hairs. The white flowers are produced in small clusters and are radially symmetrical as is typical for the Mallow family. The flowers contain five sepals and five petals and the stamens (pollen producing structures) are opposite the petals, which is less common in plants than positioned opposite the sepals. Five lobed, sterile stamens are also present, alternating with the fertile stamens in the flowers.
The fruit is a dry capsule that grows up to 2 cm in diameter that splits into five segments each of which contain 2-6 seeds. The burr-like capsule is covered with soft star-shaped hairs that are 3-8 mm long.

(Harden, G.J. Commersonia bartramia (L.) Merr. PlantNet. National Herbarium of New South Wales. Accessed online on August 9, 2007 at http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/
floraonline.htm.)

The fiber obtained from the inner bark of this species is used to make cordage throughout its range. Australian Aborigines used the cordage for the construction of fish and kangaroo nets, while in Indonesia and the Philippines it is used for the construction of ropes, and in Sumatra it is woven into mats. In the Bismarck Archipelago the fiber is used to make headbands and women’s girdles. As the trees grow quickly the timber they produce is not strong but it is considered a good source for firewood.

Commersonia bartramia is native to Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea including the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Caroline Islands of Micronesia. In Australia it is found in subtropical rainforest and in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea it is found in grasslands, thickets, and secondary forest below 1250 m. Commersonia contains approximately 14 species in South-East Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.

(Commersonia bartramia (Malaysia). Asia Pacific Medicinal Plant Database. Accessed online on August 9, 2007 at http://219.93.41.233/wapi/mctweb.dll/getObject?
MID=MEDICINALPLANT&ObjID=1.)
(Harden, G.J. Commersonia bartramia (L.) Merr. PlantNet. National Herbarium of New South Wales. Accessed online on August 9, 2007 at http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/
floraonline.htm.)

The common name Scrub Christmas tree is derived from the appearance of masses of white flowers on the plant during December that resembles snow covered branches. The family name Sterculiaceae (in which Commersonia was historically placed) was named from the type genus Sterculia that was named after the Roman god of privies, Sterculius, in reference to the strong smelling flowers of some Sterculia species.

(Wilkie, P., A. Clark, T. Pennington, M. Cheek, C. Bayer, C.C. Wilcock. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships within the subfamily Sterculioideae (Malvaceae/Sterculiaceae-Sterculieae) using the chloroplast gene ndhF. Systematic Botany 31(1): 160-170.)

The Cacao family (Sterculiaceae) is now placed in the Mallow family (Malvaceae).

(Stevens, P. F. (2001+). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 7, May 2006 [updated 05/28/2007]. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/.)

We currently have 38 herbarium specimens for Commersonia bartramia in our collection. Click on any specimen below to view the herbarium sheet data.

• 081644 - collected by E. O. Graeffe in 0000
• 048197 - collected by N. H. Cheatham in 1966
• 074698 - collected by Art Whistler in 1970
• 074693 - collected by Art Whistler in 1972
• 074697 - collected by Art Whistler in 1974
• 074699 - collected by Art Whistler in 1974
• 074696 - collected by Art Whistler in 1974
• 074695 - collected by Art Whistler in 1976
• 078958 - collected by M.-H. Sachet in 1976
• 074694 - collected by Art Whistler in 1978
• 038221 - collected by Art Whistler in 1981
• 032941 - collected by Gordon McPherson in 1982
• 032942 - collected by Gordon McPherson in 1982
• 005617 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1989
• 015218 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1994
• 074702 - collected by Art Whistler in 1996
• 024298 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1996
• 074701 - collected by Art Whistler in 1997
• 074700 - collected by Art Whistler in 1997
• 025462 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1998
• 044842 - collected by Art Whistler in 2000
• 042875 - collected by Art Whistler in 2000
• 035154 - collected by David H. Lorence in 2000
• 043407 - collected by Michael J. Balick in 2000
• 043451 - collected by A. Raynor in 2001
• 043063 - collected by Art Whistler in 2001
• 083038 - collected by David E. Brussell in 2002
• 052895 - collected by B. Ekiek in 2002
• 043873 - collected by Clay Trauernicht in 2005
• 049052 - collected by Michael J. Balick in 2007
• 054967 - collected by Steve Perlman in 2008
• 056213 - collected by Clay Trauernicht in 2008
• 069241 - collected by Steve Perlman in 2008
• 070470 - collected by Steve Perlman in 2009
• 092423 - collected by Gregory M. Plunkett in 2013
• 092211 - collected by Gregory M. Plunkett in 2016
• 091854 - collected by Sverre Juul Schou in 2022
• Unassigned - collected by Elliot Gardner in 2022