The baobabis one of nature ’s old and oddest Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . Capable of live for G of years , this deciduous tree has a singular outgrowth structure consisting of a monumental , bottle - shaped trunk and relatively sparse canopy . aboriginal to Madagascar , Africa , and Australia , the baobab grow in tropic and semi - tropical climates experiencing little or no freeze temperatures .
Identification
Baobab ( Adansonia digitata ) is a tree diagram consisting of nine species native to the ironic , hot savannas of Australia , Africa and the island of Madagascar . The Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree grows 40 to 75 feet tall and has a proboscis measuring 35 to 60 feet in diameter . Radiocarbon dating computes the eld of some baobabs as being more than 2,000 year old .
Baobab trees begin flowering at 20 years of age , becoming covered in midsummer with saucer - sized white , crinkly blossoms with gusty , purple stamens . utter a secure , musky odor at dark , the blooms attract yield cricket bat and various louse . The seeds are locate in pods , and the resulting fruit is gray , hairy and gourd - similar , resemble hanging rats .
Features
The baobab ’s thick trunk is cushy and fleshy and often filled with hollow , making the tree diagram home to a all-encompassing mixed bag of animals , including various bird , lizards , squirrels , tree frogs , snakes , Scorpion , spiders and insects . The Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ’s cavum are large enough to hold world . Missionary Internet Explorer David Livingstone described in a report a baobab whose vacuous trunk housed 20 to 30 men . Another baobab served as the townspeople pokey in Queensland , Australia .
Uses
Baobab is develop as a specimen Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in park and used as a street tree throughout tropical areas of the world , such as India and South America . In its aboriginal lands , all office of the unusual tree are used . In Africa , the pulp is made into a lemonade - like drink , the vitamin - C plenteous leaves are eat , and the root are cooked and eaten or used to make cherry dye . The Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ’s inner bark provides a hard fibre used to make rope , clothing and musical instrument string . canoe are also carved out of the tree ’s automobile trunk .
Growing Requirements
The baobab Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree postulate a full - sun position with plenteousness of room to grow . The drought - patient of tree needs ripe drain to thrive . head off watering baobab during showery times of the year .
Lore
Legend has it that the baobab tree diagram looks like it does because the ogre jerk the tree out of the ground and shove it back into the ground upside down , leaving the tree ’s roots sticking up in the air , according to William Chaney of Purdue University .
References
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