What's inside a baobab tree in Zimbabwe. Where does baobab grow? How many years does such a unique tree live?
Baobab is a truly amazing tree. It is considered not only the thickest tree in the world, but also the longest-lived. The baobab can live for more than 2000 years, and other scientists assure that it can live for more than 4 thousand years. However, it is not possible to verify this, because this tree does not have annual rings. The diameter of baobabs can reach 11 meters, and its height reaches 25 meters.
When it rains, the baobab stores water in its trunk, and even termites are unable to damage it, since its bark is thoroughly saturated with moisture, however, due to oversaturation with it, baobabs are susceptible to fungal diseases and often mature trees have a hollow or half-rotten trunk. During the rainy season, the tree can accumulate about 120 tons of water.
During periods of drought, despite the fact that water is stored, the baobab has to slow down its vital activity and during this time its leaves turn yellow and fall off. Then it looks very unusual, it may seem that the upper branches are roots, which is why the baobab is also called a tree with roots growing upward. Baobab is not afraid of sandstorms, since its roots go very deep into the ground.
This amazing tree begins to bloom only at night, and each flower lives only one night, despite the fact that flowering continues throughout the rainy season, from October to December. Baobab flowers are white and very large, which, as soon as they begin to open, have a pleasant smell, but after pollination they begin to emit an almost stench. And the flowers are pollinated by none other than bats, which are called palm fruit bats. Mice flock to the pleasantly smelling buds and manage to pollinate all the flowering trees overnight.
That same night, the flowers fall off, and only the fruits remain, which are black in color and very similar in shape to a cucumber. Baobab fruits can be eaten; both baboons and people eat them with pleasure. Their pulp contains black seeds and has a sour taste. A drink reminiscent of lemonade and even coffee is prepared from the same pulp. Baobab lemonade perfectly quenches thirst and enriches the body with vitamins B and C, and coffee is prepared by roasting the seeds.
Interestingly, if you tear off the bark from a baobab tree, it soon grows back, and the fallen tree continues to grow if at least one root remains in the soil. When a tree reaches a certain age, it stops growing and its trunk decreases in diameter. It is known that the oldest baobab on the planet, whose age is estimated at 6 thousand years.
It is also unusual for baobabs to die. They slowly settle until they fall apart, leaving behind a mountain of fairly durable fiber.
Baobab wood has such a soft and porous structure that when infected with a fungus it collapses extremely quickly and forms huge voids. Meanwhile, this does not affect its existence in any way - a tree that is hollow from the inside is quite capable of existing for many more decades. The indigenous people of Africa have long adapted to use this hole to their advantage: they mainly store grain there, but there are more interesting options.
For example, one cannot help but be surprised by the fact that in Zimbabwe they housed a real bus station in it, capable of accommodating two dozen people; in Limpopo - they set up a bar; in Botswana they planted a plant that in former times was used instead of a prison; and in Senegal poets were buried in them, since it was believed that they were not worthy of being buried in the ground.
Baobab belongs to the genus Adansonia of the Malvaceae family (sometimes it is classified as a member of the Bombaxaceae family, since there are no clear distinctions between these families). This tree is found only in the arid savannas of tropical Africa, in areas covered with herbaceous vegetation with occasional trees and shrubs. And then, only those who have adapted to survive in the dry season (the year in the African savannah consists of two periods - hot, rainy and hot, dry).
The baobab acclimatized to local conditions in a rather unusual way: the moisture and nutrients that it absorbs like a huge sponge are helped by maintaining a wide trunk, often reaching ten meters in diameter (interesting fact: the widest tree described by botanists had the width 54.5 m - and at one time it was listed in the Guinness Book of Records).
It should be noted that with such a thickness, its height is small and ranges from 18 to 25 meters, only 2-3 times greater than its width - such compactness makes it possible for the plant not to die under the burning rays of the sun.
But the water in the tree is retained, not allowing it to evaporate, by the bark, soft on the outside and strong on the inside, the thickness of which is 10 cm. Also, an important role in preserving moisture is played by the roots of the plant, which, spreading over the surface for more than tens of meters, collect all that is available to them. moisture. An interesting fact is that during the dry period, when the African baobab begins to use up its water supply, the plant decreases slightly in size and does this until the start of the rainy season, after which it begins to increase in volume again.
Monkey Breadfruit
It is during the dry period that the baobab sheds its leaves and begins to resemble a tree with its roots sticking up. Africans are convinced that this happened because the plant angered God when it did not want to live where he intended it to live. He didn’t like it either in the Congo River valley (the baobab tree decided that it was extremely damp for him) or on the slope of the green mountain.
The plant angered the Creator so much that he pulled it out of the ground and stuck it upside down in the middle of the savannah. But the harmful plant liked this area - and it decided to stay here forever, becoming known by descriptions as a tree whose roots grow upward.
Having shed its leaves, the baobab begins to bloom (it does this from October to November) - round buds appear on the bare branches. At night they bloom and look like large, about twenty centimeters, flowers with five white petals curved back and dark red spherical stamens. It is interesting that the flower lives only one night, attracting palm fruit bats and bats with its aroma for pollination. After this, it withers, begins to emit a rotting smell and falls off.
And after a while, the fruits of the baobab appear, oval or round in shape with a thick fluffy skin, containing tasty sour pulp with black seeds (interestingly, this pulp is very popular with baboons, which is why Africans called this plant “monkey breadfruit”).
Life of a tree
It has long been an established fact that baobab has soft, water-saturated wood, and is therefore susceptible to various fungi that corrode it from the inside - which is why the trunks of these trees are often either hollow or hollow.
Baobab is a tenacious plant, and therefore holes are not a reason for death. Although this still contributes to its gradual destruction: the tree begins to slowly settle - and, in the end, turns into a pile of fiber (although this process will take several decades, and even centuries).
The bark of this plant is also amazing; if you tear it off, it will not harm the tree, since pretty soon it will grow back.
An equally interesting fact is that if a baobab is cut down or knocked down by an elephant (these animals really like the juicy fibers of its core, and therefore they are able to completely eat it), and only one root remains from the root system, it will still try to take root and continue to grow, but already lying down.
Scientists could not really determine how long the baobab lives: this tree has no growth rings. Botanists are inclined to believe that this tree can live for about a thousand years. Using radiocarbon dating of one of the plants, it was possible to determine that its age exceeds 4.5 thousand years.
Universal tree
It is interesting that not only baboons and elephants benefit from this tree, but also the Africans who live in them use almost all parts of the tree instead of warehouses and use them in everyday life.
Bark
The bark of this plant is used to make coarse fiber, which is subsequently used to make durable fabric, bags, fishing nets, and ropes. Various medicines are made from the ash, which are used in the treatment of colds, dysentery, fever, asthma, heart disease, and they also relieve toothache and discomfort that occurs after bites of mosquitoes, flies and other insects.
Leaves and shoots
Young shoots are used instead of boiled asparagus, salads are made from green leaves, and spices are made from dry leaves.
Fruit pulp
The pulp of the fruit tastes similar to ginger, so a drink reminiscent of lemonade is prepared from it - for this, the fruit is first dried, then ground into powder and diluted in water. But oil is obtained from the ash of the pulp, which is subsequently used to prepare food.
Seeds
Baobab seeds are eaten both raw and roasted, and from the roasted grains, after crushing, they create a drink reminiscent of coffee.
Other
Flower dust is used to prepare glue; Having dried the hard shell of the fruit, they make glasses from it; and when burning the dried pulp, smoke drives away insects, primarily mosquitoes. Africans also actively use this plant in cosmetology - powder made from the fruits of this tree, they wash their hair, make soap, and women use the red juice that the roots of the plant contain to paint their faces.
Baobab is a species of trees belonging to the genus Adaxonia, family - Malvaceae, order - Malvaceae, class - Dicotyledonous, division Flowering, kingdom - Plants.
Among the common characteristics of all malvachue plants is the palmate shape of the leaves.
When people start talking about the ancient green giants, the first thing that comes to mind is the amazing trees - baobabs. Scientists call them living monuments of the planet and believe that some trees in Senegal are between 5 and 5.5 thousand years old. Unfortunately, it is impossible to confirm this data, since the baobab tree does not have rings from which the age of the tree can be calculated.
African baobab - commonly known as Adansōnia. It received its championship for its interesting appearance: its height is quite small - only 18-25 m, but its overly swollen trunks reach 10 m in diameter and 30-40 m in circumference. In 1991, the Guinness Book of Records talked about the baobab with a circumference of 54.5 meters. Its crown was almost 38 meters in diameter.
Adansonia palmata is a deciduous tree with uniquely shaped branches that look more like roots.
On the island of Madagascar there is an alley of baobabs belonging to the species Adansonia grandidieri
Adansonia fony
These extraordinary trees begin to bloom when there are no leaves on them yet. At this time, the baobab looks simply magnificent: buds appear on long thin stalks on bare, twisted branches.
In the evening they bloom into huge (up to 20cm) snow-white flowers that continue to bloom for only one night.
With their aroma they attract bats, which pollinate the plant. These animals have a specific sense of smell, because the smell of baobab flowers is more reminiscent of decomposition. It is better for an unprepared tourist to view this miracle of nature from afar, otherwise he will be disappointed by the aroma without having time to admire the flowers.
The giants' wood is porous and soft, and during rains it can accumulate up to 120 thousand liters of water. Thanks to this, elephants have chosen baobabs: the animals almost completely eat strange trees, simultaneously receiving food and water.
With the onset of heat, the baobab tree decreases in size. High humidity of wood favors the attack by pathogenic fungi, which cause the appearance of huge voids in the trunks. Indigenous people adapt them for storage rooms, and sometimes even for temporary housing. But this is not the only use of the trunk: in one of the villages of Northern Australia and in the town of Kasane in Botswana, the emptiness of the green giant was adapted into a prison.
Adansonia grandidieri
In Zimbabwe, a baobab tree replaced a bus station, easily accommodating 40 passengers, and in Namibia, a bathhouse was built in an empty tree trunk, which even fit a bathtub.
The aborigines eat leaves, bark, fruits and seeds of the baobab tree, make the most unexpected things from them: spices, dishes, drinks, soap, vegetable oil, paints, fabrics, medicine, glue, threads, strings, fishing nets and strong ropes that cannot tear even an elephant.
Baobab tree video
The miracle baobab tree is not the only water storage plant in nature: the Moringa flask tree in South-West Africa, the Idria tree from California, which looks like an inverted carrot, and also Australian bottle plants survive in difficult conditions in a similar way. .
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An ancient legend of African aborigines tells the following about the baobab: “On the bank of a fast, deep river, God created a lawn for the baobab. The tree became capricious, it really didn’t like growing on the damp bank. The Creator carefully moved the baobab to the slope of a high mountain, but the dissatisfied tree didn’t like it again. Then the angry Lord stuck it in the middle of the barren savannah, upside down." Now the baobab tree is growing in the arid African desert.
Previously, the baobab was not considered a tall tree; the championship among the tallest trees was held for many years by sequoia and eucalyptus. However, not so long ago, in Africa they discovered baobab of gigantic size. The crown of the tree shot up to the very clouds, and the height of the plant was 189 meters. Baobab trees are long-lived. At the end of the 18th century, researcher of African flora Michael Adanson found a gigantic baobab tree. Its trunk exceeded 9 meters in diameter, and age was 5150 years. Baobab highlighted Alexander Humboldt, calling this tree the most ancient monument of our planet.
To grasp such a huge baobab tree, an entire school class would have to join hands.
The baobab is highly respected by the indigenous people of Equatorial Africa; the tree is given many nicknames for its amazing properties. And its real name was given to it by Carl Linnaeus; the scientific name of baobab sounds poetic - “ adansonia».
The baobab has adapted to life in a waterless area, in terrible heat. Its roots go deep into the ground for many kilometers in search of water. Tree bark damaged by people or elephants recovers surprisingly quickly. Baobab is not afraid of destructive steppe fires. If the flame damages the tree, even burns out its core, the persistent giant continues to grow. Huge hollows are formed in the trunk of the baobab due to damage to the soft core by mushrooms. But even then the tree continues to serve man. Rainwater accumulates in the hollow trunk, which is used by local residents in dry times. Some tribes bury their leaders in hollows. Scientists have discovered another interesting phenomenon - baobab accumulates uranium in its wood.
Baobab flower. For a long time, it remained a mystery who pollinates baobab flowers? It turned out that at night, baobab flowers are pollinated by bats, which fly in to feast on flower nectar.
In the desert where this amazing tree grows there is a very hot, drying summer. The baobab sheds its leaves during this period to reduce moisture loss. But in winter, when the rainy season begins, the tree is covered with young, dense foliage and blooms. Adansonia flowers are large, up to 20 cm in diameter, with delicate white petals. At night, baobab flowers are pollinated by bats, which fly in to feast on the flower nectar.
After some time, the fruits, similar to long cucumbers, ripen. The pulp of the fruit is juicy and soft - local monkeys are not averse to eating them. Locals call the baobab monkey's breadfruit tree..
Local residents eat baobab fruits.
All parts of the tree are used by local residents. The seeds and fruits are used to prepare refreshing drinks and medicines; national dishes are prepared from the leaves. The roasted fruits are eaten, and the extract from the seeds is used for poisoning. Strong bark fibers are used in making ropes and coarse fabrics, and they are also used to make strings for African musical instruments.
When dying, the baobab does not fall to the ground - it crumbles, leaving behind a pile of fibers. Savannah residents respect the unique tree; everyone tries to plant a baobab next to their hut.
Africa has its own special plant. Baobab grows in Africa. Many people have heard about this amazing tree.
The baobab tree has many names: giant crab, huge nest, upside-down carrot. Well, its scientific name is Adansonia palmata from the Malvaceae family.
Its leaves are really palmate, and in the heat they fall off. If you have seen a baobab, you will not confuse it with any other. The trunk of this tree is unlike any other.
Description of baobab
Any continent on earth often differs from others not only in its geographical location and geology, but also in its flora and fauna. Some types of flora are, so to speak, its special feature or “calling card”. The baobab tree is such a hallmark of Africa.
They say that according to one African legend, the unusual appearance of the baobab is explained by the fact that God was angry and pulled it out of the ground. Then, having calmed down, he planted the tree again in the African savannah, but at that time he was absent-minded and therefore the roots of the baobab were at the top. This is how they explain that the crown of a tree has few leaves and its trunk is specific. They say that you can get 100 tons of water from one baobab tree.
Growing in dry tropical savannas, the baobab tree is famous for its thickness and longevity. It can reach 18-25 meters in height, and its trunk is often up to 10 meters in diameter. Living for hundreds of years, baobabs can amaze you with the fact that their trunk girth is 40 meters or more. Due to the fact that the tree does not have growth rings, it is difficult to determine the age of the plant. The baobab grows for a thousand years, and its age is determined by radiocarbon dating. The age of one such tree, which had a trunk circumference of 43.5 m, was determined to be 5500 years. It is unlikely that anything else in the plant world can boast of such longevity.
The largest tree in Africa is the Sunland Baobab in South Africa. The trunk of this tree has a girth of more than 45 meters and a height of almost 22 meters. Sunland Baobab is a unique tree, inside of which local entrepreneurs have placed a small pub. Moreover, I didn’t have to chisel anything, because it’s a natural cavity inside the barrel. The pub was built back in 1933 and it is still alive, like the tree itself. There are more than enough visitors who want to drink a glass of beer or something stronger in this pub.
And in the Republic of Botswana, near the city of Kasana, a hollow baobab tree was used as a prison for prisoners
While in Zambia at the Kayila Lodge camp site, if you suddenly have the urge, don’t be surprised that you’ll have to relieve yourself in this baobab toilet
The baobab tree has adapted to the dry season. In hot weather, it immediately sheds its leaves and decreases in volume. It begins to bloom from October to December. Flowers up to 20 cm with 5 white petals and purple stamens on pendulous stalks. They bloom at night and with their scent attract bats, which pollinate the flowers. In the morning, the flowers begin to wither and fall off with a putrid smell.
The fruits look like melons or cucumbers, which are covered with a hairy peel. Inside there is sourish mealy pulp with black seeds. Most often, the fruits are eaten by monkeys and therefore the baobab is called “monkey breadfruit”. Elephants eat leaves and branches. Baobab fruits are also consumed by local tribes.
Baobab wood is soft and filled with water. Because of this, the tree often suffers from fungal diseases. The trunks turn out to be hollow. The baobab dies in its own way. The trunk crumbles and settles, then only one fiber remains. A tree can quickly recover from disease and re-grow bark, bloom and bear fruit, with an empty core in the trunk. Even a cut down or fallen tree can take on new roots. If one root remains in the ground, then the trunk can grow horizontally. It happens that for unknown reasons, a baobab tree may look unusual, as if someone had tied it in a knot.
Types of baobabs
Although the places where baobabs grow are very limited, there are several varieties of baobab and, although they are all related, they are still noticeably different from each other and grow in different places. Thus, two species grow in Africa: Adansonia digitata and Adansonia kilima. There are six species in Madagascar: Adansonia grandidieri, Adansonia madagascariensis, Adansonia perrieri, Adansonia rubrostipa or otherwise Adansonia fony, Adansonia suarezensis and Adansonia za. In Australia there is only one species - Adansonia gregori or otherwise Adansonia gibbosa. Learn more about the features of these types:
Adansonia digitata
Adansonia palmata is precisely the most famous and widespread African baobab. This is a large tree up to 25 m high and a trunk diameter of up to 12 m, covered with gray smooth, sometimes lumpy bark. Of all the varieties of baobabs in Madagascar and Australia, only Adansonia palmata has white pendant flowers. The fruits of this baobab come in different shapes: round, ovoid, oval. Its homeland is a semi-arid part of the Sahara Desert.
Adansonia grandidieri
This is the most beautiful of the baobabs. This tree is up to 25 m tall and up to 3 m in diameter. It has a smooth cylindrical trunk, tapering towards the top, covered with reddish-gray, smooth bark. The branches grow only in the upper part, the crown is almost horizontal. The flowers are white, becoming yellowish over time. The fruits are ovoid or round in shape with reddish plumage. It will melt in the west of Madagascar in the areas of Morondava and Morombe. Named after Alfred Grandidier, a French botanist and explorer of Madagascar. Adansonia grandidieri is the symbol of Madagascar.
Adansonia perrieri
Adansonia perrieri is a very rare species of baobab. The tree is large to medium sized, found about 30 m high. They have uneven crowns with thick branches growing almost horizontally or at an angle. The flowers of adansonia perrieri are yellow or yellow-orange. The fruits are large, up to 30 cm in size, with small seeds. It grows only in the north of Madagascar in the province of Antsiranana. It is considered an endangered species; no more than 10 places where this species grows are known.
Adansonia kilima
Adansonia kilima or Mountain Baobab is very similar to Adansonia palmate. It is difficult to distinguish externally; the difference is noticeable in the shape of the flowers. It was singled out as a special species after careful research due to the fact that it is a tetraploid, that is, it has 4n chromosomes in its cells, unlike other diploids, which have 2n chromosomes. It grows in eastern Africa, in Namibia, in the mountains above 650 meters above sea level.
Adansonia suarezensis
Adansonia suarezensis is an endangered species; it is a tall, single-stemmed tree, up to 25 m tall and up to 2 m in diameter, tapering from the base to the top. The branches grow almost horizontally, so the crown is flat. The flowers are white, the fruits are oblong. The seeds are the largest of all baobabs. For one kg. there are 450 pieces, instead of the usual 1000. It grows only in the north of Madagascar in the province of Antsiranana.
Adansonia za
Adansonia za is a tree of varying heights, from 5 to 30 meters. The barrel is cylindrical or conical. The branches usually grow upward. The flowers are yellow. The fruits are oblong, up to 30 cm in size, often almost black in color. Adansonia za is the most common baobab species in Madagascar. It grows in the west of the island, mainly in the province of Toliara.
Adansonia madagascariensis
Adansonia madagascarensis is a baobab of various sizes and shapes with an irregular crown. Height from 5 to 20 meters. The bark is light gray. The flowers are red. The fruits are round, about 10 cm in size. It grows in dry or semi-dry forests in the north-west of Madagascar, in the province of Mahejenga.
Adansonia rubrostipa
Adansonia rubrostipa, or Adansonia fony, is the shortest species of Madagascar baobab. The usual height of these trees is 4-5 m, but sometimes they are found up to 20 m. This tree has a bottle-shaped trunk. The bark is gray, becoming brown and reddish with age. The leaves are lacy, the crown is irregular. The flowers are yellow or orange. The fruits are round, with red plumage. It grows mainly in the province of Tulear in western Madagascar.
Adansonia gregorii
Adansonia gregorii or Adansonia hybos is a low-growing tree, up to 10 meters, with a bottle-shaped trunk covered with gray smooth bark. The crown is shapeless. The flowers are white or light cream. The fruits are round or ovoid. It grows only in the north and north-west of Australia.
Applications of baobab
The local population uses the baobab tree in everyday life as shelter, food, medicine, and water. Young leaves are used to prepare salads and soups, while dry leaves become a seasoning. Crushed bark replaces pepper. Oil from the fruit is used in cooking. The pulp of the baobab fruit is rich in vitamins B and C. Its taste is similar to ginger, and its calorie content is not inferior to veal. It relieves fatigue and is well absorbed. Therefore, it is dried and ground into flour.
By diluting flour in water, you get a drink that tastes like lemonade. Because of this, some people call the baobab tree the “lemonade tree.” True, such a drink is not common in Europe and America, but exotic Cola and Pepsi made from baobab are already produced in quite large quantities and they are in good demand. Baobab seeds can also be used in food; from roasted seeds you can make a quite tolerable drink reminiscent of coffee. And the raw seeds are an effective antidote to strophanthus, a poison that many African tribes use to smear arrowheads.
Baobab is often called the “Pharmacy Tree” or the “Tree of Life”. And this is true. It has been proven that baobab fruits contain many amino acids, micro- and macroelements, and vitamins. In terms of antioxidants, they are superior to oranges, blueberries, blueberries, kiwis, and apples. And in terms of vitamin C content - bananas and oranges. Baobab is rich in vitamins F, A, C, group B, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, manganese, sodium, pectin, natural acids, amino acids, and fiber. In ancient times, baobab was used to treat and prevent a number of diseases. It is used for diarrhea, restores intestinal motility, prevents and treats dysbiosis, gastritis, improves the quality of skin, hair and nails, is used for allergies, normalizes stool, reduces varicose veins, prevents anorexia and anemia, treats hemorrhoids, osteoporosis, normalizes intestinal microflora, increase immunity. In recent years, you can buy dietary supplements and food ingredients from it in pharmacies in the USA and Europe. Baobab Life is very popular. This new drug is increasingly used in different countries, including Russia.
Tree bark ash is used in folk medicine to treat fever, cardiovascular diseases, toothache, dysentery, asthma, colds, and insect bites. The oil is used in cosmetics and applied externally to treat psoriasis, eczema and dermatitis. And flower dust has an adhesive essence and sticks to all objects. The fruits of the plant are dried and used instead of glasses. The dry fruit is set on fire and the smoke is used to protect it from mosquitoes and other insects. The resulting ash is then used to make soap. Women wash their hair with powder from the fruit, and dye their hair and face with red juice from the roots. The bark provides a strong but coarse fiber that is used to weave fishing nets, mats, ropes or fabrics.
Residents of Africa consider the baobab to be a tree that preserves the earth, gives life and fertility. It is not for nothing that this tree is depicted on the coats of arms of the Central African Republic and Senegal. The baobab tree has not yet been fully studied and holds many secrets.