Phoenix Tropicals Gardening

[cowbell]

I like the look of these trees. I've done a little research, but information online has been contradictory.
At the Glendale Public Library xeriscape garden there are two varieties of Brachychiton side by side. Brachychiton rupestris and Brachychiton populneus. Based on what I saw, I preferred the rupestris. There was no litter under the tree, and the trunk diameter was much more exaggerated than the populneus. It resembles baobab, but with bright green bark.
On the other hand the populneus was a mess, littered with seed pods and a mat of fallen leaves.
In terms of information, what I've found online is all over the place. If you look long enough you can find a site that says that either, both, neither, of these trees is uncommonly clean or a gawd-awful mess.
Anyone have first hand information on these handsome trees? Thanks.

[saul4paz]

I have seen these in California my uncle has one, (the ones with the fat trunk,) it’s like a ficus, they are messy but they stay green all year. These are used for bonsai all the time. Sometimes you can find them at whit fields (if you look hard); they have a lot of roots too, but would look great if you have enough the space.

I like a tree similar to this one, I don’t know the name but it has spikes that look like alligator teeth on the trunk, with beautiful pink flowers. I’ve seen it once in AZ in mostly shade

[cowbell]

Both of the types at GCC have those giant thorns. I think I've read it's typical for the genus.

[phoenixtropicals]

The ones with the thorns and the pink flowers are called "silk floss" trees. They are beautiful but they flower for a short part of the year, only a couple of weeks I think, and get very big.

http://www.floridata.com/ref/C/chor_spe.cfm

[cowbell]

There are pictures where you can see the "thorns" here...
http://coldcalculation.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
I don't think they're really thorns. They're conical, and on the ones where the tips are broken you can see that they're hollow.

Here are some pictures of different Brachychiton, some with pink flowers...
http://pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/2008/12/leaf-of-day-little-kurrajongand.html

[tolive]

I have no experience with the rupestris. However we have had bottle trees (populneus) in our yards in the past. They are very messy (seed pods) trees that tend to have branch splits when they get older. They are not a canopy tree. I personally don't like them, but that may be because I had to pick up the seed pods for years. The seed pods themselves have furry stickers on them when opened and these can irritate the skin.

This is a tree you see at every apartment complex that was built sometime in the 90s...as it was a very popular tree in the commercial landscape industry then.