Adansonia digitata

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Read about Adansonia digitata in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Adansonia digitata, Linn. Baobab Tree. Figs. 118, 119. Height not more than 60 ft.: diam. said to be sometimes 30 ft. or more and to have the thickest trunk of any tree in the world: lvs. palmate, with 3 lfts. in young plants, and 5-7 in older ones: fls. 6 in. across, with purplish anthers, on long axillary, solitary peduncles; stigma 7-10-rayed in full anthesis. Afr. B.M. 2791- 2792. G.C. III. 27:57.—Rarely cult, in extreme S. Fla., where fr. is 9-12 in. long, and called "monkey's bread." Figs. 118 and 119 are from specimens growing in the American tropics. The fl. opens wide, something like a spreading hibiscus, and the petals soon roll back and wither, as shown in Fig. 119. The tree is very thick-boled, and the wood is soft and light. The tree is supposed to attain to vast age. The fr. of the baobab is a gourd-like structure, of which the pulp is said sometimes to be eaten and the juice used for the making of a beverage. The bark produces a very strong fiber. N. Taylor.


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Adansonia digitata
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Baobab tree in Tanzania
Baobab tree in Tanzania
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Adansonia
Species: A. digitata

Binomial name
Adansonia digitata
L.

Adansonia digitata, the baobab, is the most widespread of the Adansonia species on the African continent, found in the hot, dry regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Other members of the genus are found in Australia and Madagascar. Some large individuals live to well over a thousand years of age. The tree bears large, heavy white flowers. The fruits are filled with pulp that dries, hardens, and falls to pieces which look like chunks of powdery, dry bread.

The specific epithet digitata refers to the fingers of a hand, which the five leaflets (typically) in each cluster bring to mind.

Vernacular names

Adansonia digitata is known by many names, the most common of which is baobab. It is also known as the 'dead-rat tree' (from the appearance of the fruits), 'monkey-bread tree' (the soft, dry fruit is edible), 'upside-down tree' (the sparse branches resemble roots) and cream of tartar tree. In French, it is known as calebassier du Sénégal and arbre de mille ans; in Portuguese as molambeira, imbondeiro, calabaceira and cabacevre; and in Swahili as mbuyu, mkuu hapingwa, mkuu hafungwa and muuyu.[1]

References and external links

  1. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.

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