Brachychiton is a genus with 31 species belonging to the subfamily (for some authors, family) of the sterculiaceae (the same as the genus Theobroma, cacao) of trees and large monoecious shrubs, native to Australia (the center of diversity has 30 species) and New Guinea (with one species).
The age of the fossils of New South Wales and New Zealand is estimated at 50 million years, corresponding to the Tertiary.