Similia Vol 26 No 1 – June 2014

Author: Patricia Hatherly

Abstract

Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae (Sterculiaceae)
Genus: Brachychiton
Species: Brachychiton rupestris

Trituration using a mortar and pestle is the traditional method of preparing substances to be incorporated into the homeopathic pharmacopoeia. So, with the intent of exploring the medicinal potential of a species of Australian flora, one which has a long and well-documented tradition of being used for practical, medicinal as well as ceremonial purposes, Brachychiton rupestris [Queensland Bottle Tree] was selected for trituration.

It was originally classified in the family Sterculiaceae (the Cacao family, which is now within Malvaceae), and is native to Queensland. It is the east coast ‘cousin’ of the Boab with which it shares many characteristics. It was named by Karl Moritz Schumann in 1893; the name deriving from the Greek: brachys, short and chiton, a tunic (a reference to the coating on the seed) and the Latin: rupes, rocky cliff face; crag (which is why it loves to grow in  dry, gritty, loamy soil and is generally found in plentiful numbers along escarpments in central Queensland).

The primary sensation keynotes for the Malvales, as listed by Sankaran, are: Attached then Detached and Joined then Separated; with the primary  compensation being described as Independent and Self Confident. Rubrics emerging from the trituration give approbation to these themes and  appear to tell the story of a continent (where life is harsh and binding together in a spirit of mateship assists survival), which is on a counter-clockwise  journey, having detached itself from the supercontinent of Gondwanaland, and is currently enjoying a fiercely independent status.

Keywords: Malvaceae, tradition, ancestors, cohesion, separation, spirals, time, water.