Peanut tree facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Peanut tree
Sterculia quadrifida fruit and foliage.
Scientific classification
Genus:	Sterculia
Species:	quadrifida

The Peanut Tree, also known as Sterculia quadrifida, is a cool small tree. You can find it growing in the warm rainforests and special gallery forests. It lives along the coast of Queensland, the Northern Territory, and north-eastern New South Wales in Australia. This tree gets its name because its seeds taste a lot like raw peanuts!

The Amazing Peanut Tree

What Does the Peanut Tree Look Like?

The Peanut Tree usually grows to be about 5 to 10 metres (15 to 30 feet) tall. It has a wide, spreading top that loses its leaves each year. Its bark is a light grey colour. The leaves are dark green and shaped like a broad egg. Sometimes, they can even look like a heart at the bottom.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers of the Peanut Tree are greenish-yellow. They grow in small groups near the leaves. These flowers appear from November to January, which is summer in Australia.

After the flowers, the tree grows special seed pods. These pods are bright orange on the outside. When they are ripe, the inside is also orange or red. Each pod can hold up to eight black seeds. These seeds are edible, meaning you can eat them! They taste very much like raw peanuts.

Other Names for the Peanut Tree

This interesting tree has many other common names. Some people call it kuman, orange-fruited kurrajong, or orange-fruited sterculia. Other names include red-fruited kurrajong, smooth-seeded kurrajong, white crowsfoot, and small-flowered kurrajong.

How People Use the Peanut Tree

The bark of the Peanut Tree is very useful. Aboriginal people have traditionally used its bark. They use it in their traditional weaving techniques. With the bark, they create beautiful baskets and many other useful products.

Images for kids

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  S. quadrifida

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  S. quadrifida flowers.