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November 21, 2007 : Adansonia digitata
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Keywords: Malvaceae | Adansonia digitata L. | Photo 1: cultivated in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | Photo 2: Bandia Reserve, Senegal
Today's photographs are from two sources. The flower photograph is from frequent BPotD contributor Dinesh aka dinesh_valke@Flickr via the BPotD Flickr Group Pool (original). Thank you, again, Dinesh! The second image is via the Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of Myriam Louviot (original), with use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. A thanks to you, Myriam, as well.
Continuing with the series on African plants, baobab is an iconic species of this continent. Adansonia digitata is widely distributed across Africa with a range that extends into Oman and Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. It is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental in tropical environments, and the Genetic Resources Information Network suggests it has naturalized in some places. At least with respect to Pacific Islands, it has been graded as having a low invasive potential.
Wikipedia provides a brief summary of Adansonia digitata, but I'd suggest bypassing that link and instead reading the detailed summary from Plantzafrica.com on Adansonia digitata. The latter resource has information on the lemonade-like drink produced from the fruit, the origin of the name (for Michel Adanson), individual baobab trees of note, and an extremely intriguing section on uses and cultural aspects of the species (prisons, rainwater reservoirs, beehives, fishing nets, and food, to name but a few).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at November 21, 2007 12:38 AM
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Posted by: Carol Ross at November 21, 2007 9:15 AM
Thank you very much, Daniel.
Posted by: Dinesh Valke at November 21, 2007 10:09 AM
Somehow I cant think about Baobabs without thinking about "Le Petit Prince". The little prince first meets the narrator of the story by asking him to draw a goat to bring back to his planet so that the goat will eat any baobab seedlings. He is afraid that a baobab, once it starts growing, would be nearly impossible to get rid of, and the roots would grow big enough to just explode his planet (which is not too much larger than a fair sized car). His only worry is that the goat doesn't also eat his rose. But it seems like if baobabs can be eaten like asparagus and roses are roses, it wouldn't be a very difficult decision for the goat.
Posted by: Joe at November 21, 2007 10:36 AM
Adansonia digitata - Z10 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths
Adansonia digitata - min 16 degrees C/61 degrees F, A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Brickell, Cole, Zuk
Posted by: Beverley at November 21, 2007 8:29 PM
Thanks for this post. Every year I look at the baobab picture in the Thompson & Morgan seed catalog and am tempted to order a package!
Posted by: Barbara Lamb at November 22, 2007 7:41 AM
Oh my word. Look at that trunk! Fantastic.
Posted by: van at November 22, 2007 10:53 AM
What an amazing tree. The blossom is lovely.
I do like learning of things I may never see excet in photohraphs.
Thank you,
Margret-Rae
Posted by: Margaret-Rae Davis at November 22, 2007 7:51 PM
The photograph of the flower is extraordinarily beautiful, with its arrangement of colors and light and dark shades.
Posted by: Anthony at December 2, 2007 4:07 PM
good moorning. please i write from cameroon .
I want pictures of baobab seeds and fruits. this will help me to appreciate and to by them
Posted by: feujio daniel at October 23, 2008 10:54 AM
The pictures are splendid.
Pl. post me thru mail some information about Adansonia digitata, the African tree regarding its propagation, habitat and whether found in INDIA etc.
Thanking you
Dr.S.K.Deshpande
Botanist,
University of Agril. Sciences, Dharwad
Posted by: Sanjeev K Deshpande at January 26, 2009 10:46 PM
Is it true that the oldest known living tree, carbon dated back 1600 years ago is a Andansonia digitata
Posted by: Larry at July 9, 2009 4:26 PM
i was given 3 2" plants about 2yrs ago, they are about 3' tall now,Iive in S. Florida and hope they will do well here.Thanks for your info.
Posted by: jean at September 21, 2009 9:11 PM
Pl. post me thru mail some information about Adansonia digitata, the African tree regarding its propagation, habitat and whether found in INDIA etc.
Posted by: sugandha singh at September 26, 2009 11:49 AM
Dear Sir,
Kindly let me know where I can get the seeds or the bonzai of Asdansonia Digsitata in India, preferably in South India.
With Regards,
Hare Krishna
S K SWAMY RAO
Posted by: s k swamy rao at February 2, 2010 4:15 AM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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After exploring the links you recommended, I notice that the flower in the photo has fewer petals than the one shown in the link. May I assume that the first one is only partly unfurled?
Loved this entry. The baobab is certainly a natural treasure. I never realized it was a succulent. Kudos!
Carol