Tucked along Route 66 in the Mojave Desert stands a surreal forest made of glass and scrap—Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch. What started as a childhood hobby became one of California’s most ...

Bottle trees are in the hibiscus family (Malvaceae), which includes several other notable trees. One is the baobab, made famous in the children’s literature classic, “The Little Prince.” ...

A: Your trees are called bottle trees (Brachychiton populneus). This is an Australian native that does well here and averages 30 feet tall and wide at maturity. It isn’t supposed to be deciduous ...

The bottle tree has deep roots in Africa. Art historian Robert Farris Thompson traces it to the Bakongo people, whose homeland is near the mouth of the Congo River. Many of their customs survived ...