Candlenut tree

How to identify a candlenut

Candlenut is a large tree with fairly smooth grey or grey-brown bark. Its leaves are big, 7 to 24 cm long on long stalks, and may be plain or cut into three or five lobes. New shoots and young leaves are dusted with fine silvery or brownish star-shaped hairs. Small creamy white flowers open in large, branched clusters at the branch tips in summer, followed by round green fruit 4 to 6 cm across. A rarer native, Aleurites rockinghamensis, looks very similar but grows wild only in north Queensland, and young candlenuts can be mistaken for kurrajongs.

Growing a candlenut in Brisbane

Candlenut is often planted as an ornamental in coastal eastern Australia, but its natural home is the rainforest of far north Queensland. Around Brisbane it has escaped from cultivation: the Queensland Herbarium records it as naturalised in the Moreton district, and saplings have spread along Enoggera Creek at The Gap from a revegetation planting. It grows 10 to 15 metres tall, so it only suits large blocks, and it shouldn't be planted near creeks or bushland.

What to watch out for

Don't eat the nuts: CSIRO notes they are strongly purgative when raw and that the seeds of most Aleurites species contain poisonous compounds. The fruit is heavy and drops, leaving hard shells under the tree. Environmental Weeds of Australia describes candlenut as an emerging environmental weed in South East Queensland that shouldn't be planted near bushland, although it isn't on Brisbane City Council's weed list or Queensland's declared plant lists.

• Poisonous parts. The raw nuts are a strong purgative, and the seeds of most Aleurites species contain poisonous compounds, so don't eat them.
• Falling fruit. The heavy round fruit drops under the tree, and hard seed shells collect beneath large trees.
• Seedlings. Seedlings have escaped into Brisbane bushland, including saplings along Enoggera Creek at The Gap that spread from a revegetation planting.

Pruning and care

If you have a candlenut, formative pruning while it's young sets it up well: keep one strong leader and remove low, crossing or rubbing branches while they're small. Later, take out dead or damaged wood and keep limbs clear of roofs and paths. Rake up fallen fruit regularly, and pull up any seedlings while they're small so they don't establish. Large trees, or limbs over a house, are a job for a qualified arborist with the right gear.

• Tree removal
• Tree pruning
• Stump grinding