ABSTRACT
Michel Adanson (1727-1806). • Digitata in the scientic name A. digitata is Latin for digitate, a reference to the ngerlike
arrangement of the lea§ets on the leaves.
There are eight species of baobab trees (of the genus Adansonia), six native to Madagascar, one in Australia, and one in Africa, A. digitata, the largest and most spectacular, and the subject of this chapter. The African baobab is native to most of the countries of Africa south of the Sahara. Humans have extended its range throughout the dry areas of Africa. The baobab was apparently known in ancient Egypt, although the tree is not native to the country. Baobab trees are bizarre in appearance, with grotesquely swollen trunks. The tree is usually massive, with a barrel-like trunk that may reach a diameter of 9 m (30 ft.), or rarely 12 m (39 ft.). Height rarely exceeds 18 m (59 ft.), but a few trees are as tall as 25 m (82 ft.). The irregular crown is made up of short, twisted branches. The root system is shallow, an adaptation to quickly collecting occasional rainfall, and roots have been observed to extend as far as 46 m (50 yd.) from the tree. Baobabs generally produce leaves during the rainy season and shed their foliage during the dry season to reduce moisture loss. If continuously watered, they will hold on to their leaves. At the end of the dry season, the tree produces large white §owers 10 to 12.5 cm (4-5 in.) across, and these hang down on long stalks. The §owers open at night and are pollinated by nectar-feeding bats. The fruit of the baobab is large, gourd-like, hard, about 15 to 30 cm (6-12 in.) long, with a velvety skin, and like the §ower, hangs down by a long stalk.
