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Adansonia

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The baobabs (Adansonia), occasionally known colloquially as "monkey-bread trees", are a genus of eight species of trees, native to Madagascar (the centre of diversity, with six species), and Africa and Australia (one species in each). The species reach heights of between 5-25 m (exceptionally 30 m) tall, and up to 7 m (exceptionally 11 m) in trunk diameter. They are noted for storing water inside the swollen trunk. All occur in seasonally arid areas, and are deciduous, shedding their leaves during the dry season. Some are reputed to be many thousands of years old, though as the wood does not produce annual growth rings, this is impossible to verify; few botanists give any credence to these claims of extreme age.

Species
  • Adansonia digitata - African Baobab (northeastern, central & southern Africa)
  • Adansonia grandidieri - Grandidier's Baobab (Madagascar)
  • Adansonia gregorii (syn. A. gibbosa) - Boab or Australian Baobab (northwest Australia)
  • Adansonia madagascariensis - Madagascan Baobab (Madagascar)
  • Adansonia perrieri - Perrier's Baobab (Madagascar)
  • Adansonia rubrostipa (syn. A. fony) - Fony Baobab (Madagascar)
  • Adansonia suarezensis - Suarez Baobab (Madagascar)
  • Adansonia za - Za Baobab (Madagascar)

The name Adansonia honours Michel Adanson, the French naturalist and explorer who described A. digitata.

Uses

The leaves are also common as a leaf vegetable throughout the area of mainland African distribution, including Malawi, Zimbabwe, and the Sahel. They are eaten both fresh and in the form of a dry powder. In Nigeria, the leaves are locally known as kuka, and are used to make kuka soup. The dry pulp of the fruit, after separation from the seeds and fibers, is eaten directly or mixed into porridge or milk. The seeds are most used as a thickener for soups, but may also be fermented into a seasoning, roasted for direct consumption, or pounded to extract vegetable oil. The tree also provides a source of fiber, dye, and fuel.

The boab was used by Indigenous Australians as a source of water and food, and used the leaves medicinally. The also painted and carved the outside of the fruits, and wore them as ornaments. A very large, hollow boab south of Derby, Western Australia was used in the 1890s as a lockup for Aboriginal prisoners on their way to Derby for sentencing. The Boab Prison Tree still stands and is now a tourist attraction.

Cultural references

The baobab is the national tree of Madagascar.

In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's story The Little Prince, the Little Prince was worried that baobabs (described as "trees as big as castles") would grow on his asteroid and take up all the space.

Rakifi, in The Lion King, makes his home in a baobab tree.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adansonia digitata.
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