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'Baobab' is the common name of a genus (''Adansonia'') containing eight species of trees, native to Madagascar (the centre of diversity, with six species), mainland Africa and Australia (one species in each). The mainland African species also occurs on the island of Madagascar, but it is not a native of that country. Other common names include 'boab', 'bottle tree' and 'monkey bread tree'. 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, with the capacity to store up to 120,000 litres of water to endure the harsh drought conditions particular to each region [1]. 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.
The Malagasy species are important components of the Madagascar dry deciduous forests. Within that biome, ''A. madagascariensis'' and ''A. rubrostipa'' occur specifically in the Anjajavy Forest, sometimes growing out of the tsingy limestone itself.
;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'' – Madagascar Baobab (Madagascar)

★ ''Adansonia perrieri'' – Perrier's Baobab (North Madagascar)

★ ''Adansonia rubrostipa'' (syn. ''A. fony'') – Fony Baobab (Madagascar)

★ ''Adansonia suarezensis'' – Suarez Baobab (Diego Suarez, Madagascar)

★ ''Adansonia za'' – Za Baobab (Madagascar)
The name ''Adansonia'' honours Michel Adanson, the French naturalist and explorer who described ''A. digitata''.

Contents

Uses

Cultural references

References and external links

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 mostly 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 fibre, dye, and fuel.
The Boab was used by Indigenous Australians as a source of water and food; the leaves were used medicinally. They 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 [2].

★ The baobab is occasionally known colloquially as "upside-down tree" (from the Arabic legend which claims that the devil pulled out the tree and planted it upside down). This is likely derived from older African lore. The story goes that after creation, each of the animals was given a tree to plant and the hyena planted the baobab upside-down.

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

★ Rafiki, in ''The Lion King'', makes his home in a baobab tree.

★ Singer Regina Spektor has a song called ''Baobabs'' that was released on the special edition of "Begin To Hope" (2006).

★ Orchestra Baobab is a Senegalese band.

★ Baobabs are also used for bonsai (the most popular being ''A. digitata'').

★ Progressive metal band Mouth of the Architect have a song on their album ''The Ties That Blind'' entitled "Baobab".

★ Classical music composer Andi Spicer wrote a piece for percussion quartet called ''Baobab''. There is also a version for harpsichord.

★ ''Baobab'' is a serialized graphic novel by Igort, an Italian artist, published in the United States by Fantagraphics [3].

★ Ernst Haeckel mentions "monkey bread-fruit trees (''Adansonia'')" in his ''The History of Creation'' (Chap. 29), and claims that their "individual life exceeds a period of five thousand years."

References and external links

★ Braun, Karl (1900) ''Beiträge zur Anatomie der Adansonia digitata L.'' F. Reinhardt, Universitäts-Buchdruckerei, Basel, OCLC 15926986

★ Baum, David A.; Small Randall L. and Wendel, Jonathan F. (1998) "Biogeography and floral evolution of baobabs (Adansonia, Bombacaceae) as inferred from multiple data sets" ''Systematic Biology'' 47(2): pp. 181-207

★ Pakenham, Thomas (2004) ''Remarkable Baobab'' Norton, New York, ISBN 0-297-84373-7

★ Jardin Botanique et Pepiniere – Baobab species details

★ Jardin Botanique et Pepiniere – Baobab photo gallery

★ Madagascar info: Baobab photo gallery (Malagasy species only)

★ Baobab: herbal information from ''King's American Dispensatory''

★ Baobab: Interactive Bibliography