Envoy at 17:44, 7 November 2007

2007-11-07T17:44:32Z

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{{Taxobox

| color = lightgreen
| name = Boab
| status =

secure
| image = Derby boab, Western Australia.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Adansonia gregorii'', the Boab
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malvales]]
| familia = [[Malvaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Baobab|Adansonia]]''
| species = '''''A. gregorii'''''
| binomial = ''Adansonia gregorii''
| binomial_authority = [[Ferdinand von Mueller|F.Muell.]]
}}

[[Image: Boab, Timber Creek, NT - Melissa Jamcotchian.JPG|left|thumb| A boab tree in Timber Creek, Northern Territory]]

'''''Adansonia gregorii''''', commonly known as '''boab''', is a [[tree]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Malvaceae]]. As with other [[baobab]]s, it is easily recognised by the swollen base of its trunk, which gives the tree a bottle-like appearance. Endemic to [[Australia]], boab occurs in the [[Kimberley region of Western Australia|Kimberley]] region of [[Western Australia]], and east into the [[Northern Territory]]. It is the only baobab to occur in Australia, the others being native to [[Madagascar]] (six species) and [[Africa]] (one species).

==Description==
Boab is a medium sized tree, usually growing to a height of 9–12 metres. Its trunk base may be extremely large; trunks with a diameter of over five metres have been recorded. Boab is deciduous, losing its leaves during the dry winter period and producing new leaves and large white flowers in late spring.

==Alternate names==
The common name "boab" is a shortened form of the generic common name "baobab". Although '''boab''' is the most widely recognised common name, ''Adansonia gregorii'' has a number of other common names, including:
* '''baobab''' — this is the common name for the [[genus]] as a whole, but it is often used in Australia to refer to the Australian species;
* '''Australian baobab'''
* '''bottle tree'''
* '''dead rat tree'''
* '''gadawon''' — one of the names used by the local [[Indigenous Australians]]. Other names include larrgadi or larrgadiy, which is widespread in the Nyulnyulan languages of the Western Kimberley.
The specific name "gregorii" honours the Australian explorer [[Augustus Gregory]].

==Uses==
[[Image:Boab tree in February, Kimberley region, Western Australia.jpg|left|thumb|A boab tree in the Kimberley, Western Australia in February]]
Indigenous Australians obtained water from hollows in the tree, and used the white powder that fills the seed pods as a food. Decorative paintings or carvings were sometimes made on the other surface of the fruits. The leaves were used [[medicinal plants|medicinally]].

A large hollow boab just south of [[Derby, Western Australia]] is reputed to have been 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.

==References==
{{wikispecies|Adansonia gregorii}}
* {{FloraBase | name = Adansonia gregorii | id = 4995}}
* {{cite book|author=Boland, D. J. ''et al.''|year=1984|title=Forest Trees of Australia|edition=Fourth edition|publisher=CSIRO Publishing|location=Collingwood, Victoria, Australia|id=ISBN 0-643-05423-5}}

[[Category:Flora of the Northern Territory]]
[[Category:Flora of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Malvaceae]]
[[Category:Bombacaceae]]

Boab - Revision history

Envoy at 17:44, 7 November 2007