Adansonia digitata
| Adansonia digitata
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 Baobab tree in Tanzania | ||||||||||||||
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| 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
- ↑ Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
Template:Commons Template:Wikispecies
- Description and cultural information
- Structured description
- Van Wyk, Ben-Erik (2005). Food Plants of the World. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc. ISBN 0-88192-743-0
- Baum, David A.; Small Randall L. and Wendel, Jonathan F. (1998) "Biogeography and floral evolution of baobabs (Adansonia, Bombacaceae) as inferred from multiple data sets" Systematic Biology 47(2): pp. 181-207
- PROTAbase on Adansonia digitata
Gallery
The fruit can be up to 25 cm long and can be used to make a drink 
Leaves and fruit of Adansonia digitata 
Baobab Tree by Thomas Baines 
Baobab flower
