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Show Australia's Bottle Tree Provides Food and Drink Nature must have been in a playful mood when she designed the odd vase-shaped bottle tree, which grows in the tropical regions re-gions of Australia. One would never guess, from the tree's rugged rug-ged appearance, that the inner part of the swollen stem is actual' ly a nutritious food for both man and beast. The stem is also a reservoir for cool, sweet water. Many a thirsty Yank soldier on duty in Australia has tapped this tree for its refreshing liquid. Largest Larg-est specimens are 50 to 60 feet high, and the trunk is six or seven feet thick. |