Bottle tree
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Bottle tree or bottle-tree may refer to:
- Adansonia species, the baobabs;
- Adansonia gregorii, the boab;
- Pachypodium lealii, (Apocynaceae), the bottle tree of Namibia and Angola;
- The genus Moringa, (Moringaceae), of the Madagascar spiny thickets and elsewhere;
- Brachychiton or Kurrajong species, (Malvaceae), of Australia;
- Ceiba species, the floss silk tree or palo borracho of South America.
- An artificial tree made of glass bottles, usually of the liquor variety, commonly found in lawns of homes in the Delta region of Mississippi.
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DID YOU KNOW? Glass "bottle trees" orginated in Northern Africa during a period when superstitious people believed that a genii or imp could be captured in a glass bottle. Legend had it that empty glass bottles placed outside the home could "capture" roving (usually evil) spirits at night, and the spirit would be destroyed the next day in the sunshine. This practice was taken to Europe and North America by African slaves. While Europeans adapted them into hollow glass spheres known as "witch balls" the practice of hanging bottles in trees became widespread in the Southern states of North America, where they continue to be used today as colorful garden ornaments.
Bottle trees have been featured as accessories in most of the prestigious flower show garden displays all over the world.
Additionally, glass bottles, which have long been placed in windows for color ("poor man's stained glass"), are also commonly used to line flower beds.
