Baobab

Abstract

The African baobab, Adansonia digitata – the classic widetrunked tree of the African plains, with its unusual “upside down” silhouette when leafl ess in winter – is the most famous of this genus of eight species in the kapok family (Bombacaceae – which some scientists now consider to be part of the Malvaceae) named after the French surgeon Michel Adanson (1727-1806). It is the only species native to Africa. It is one of the largest trees in the world, although defi nitely not one of the tallest, with its impressive, broad trunk that can reach over 15m in diameter. Its sheer size makes it quite conspicuous in the savannah or bushveld (dry w o o d l a n d ) . Some of the largest trees have been estimated at over 2,000 years old by carbondating; circumference is not a reliable predictor of age, as the conditions it has grown under and the climatic fl uctuations of the centuries greatly affect girth. Rainfall infl uences tree diameter, with the trunk becoming narrower in dry years.