Australian Bottle Tree, Queensland Bottle Tree, Brachychiton Rupestris

One of the many traditions steeped in local Lowcountry history is the bottle tree. Over the centuries, the Gullah culture of our sea islands has lent many legends and superstitions to the rest of the Lowcountry and beyond, and the belief in spirits is one of them. Odds are, you have come across a bottle tree at some time or another in your life.. The folk-art legend of the bottle tree began in the Congo during the ninth century. Blue bottles were hung upside down on trees and huts as talismans to ward off evil spirits. Bottles were also tied to trees near important locations such as meeting places or crossroads to trap any spirits that were traveling.

Southern people have been making bottle trees for centuries, but their origin and folklore stretches back to ancient times.. Bottle trees are a popular garden ornament in the Southeastern United States used to protect against evil spirits. Originating in West Africa, bottle trees have spiritual significance in Hoodoo tradition, trapping spirits in glass bottles to be destroyed by sunlight. Bottle trees are also used to honor the dead, with blue bottles capturing the energy and memories of ancestors in a beautiful.