African Baobab

Family: Baobab family. The most famous representative of the genus is truly a fantastic tree that has entered legends, works of fiction, and is often depicted on stamps, paintings, and posters.

It is not without reason considered the eighth wonder of the world. The unusually thick trunks of baobabs can reach 9 m in diameter (the cross-sectional area of such a trunk is more than (50 m2), and, since the trees are not tall, their grotesque thickness is particularly striking. Like other trees of the dry African savannas, baobabs develop a powerful root system that supplies the plant with a more or less sufficient amount of moisture. The knotty, large-diameter roots of baobabs often extend along the soil surface for tens of meters, occupying a vast area. (This "capturing" feature of the baobab was interestingly and symbolically interpreted by Saint-Exupéry in "The Little Prince".)

Baobabs bloom more often on leafless branches. Their spherical floral buds, hanging on long pedicels, open in the evening or at night; then large white flowers appear with a peculiar but fairly pleasant scent that attracts pollinators. A 5-parted calyx and corolla surround the staminal tube, which ends in a cluster of numerous stamens, and among them, slightly to the side, is the gynoecium, considerably exceeding them in length. At night the flowers are pollinated by bats, and by morning they wither, acquire an unpleasant smell, and fall off.

Baobab fruits are ovoid, thick-walled, felt-covered pods; they contain numerous small black seeds dispersed by animals. The seeds are embedded in white pulp, the slightly sour taste of which attracts many animals, especially monkeys, which is why the baobab is also called monkey bread.

The Indian botanist K. M. Waid is inclined to consider the baobab the mythical "kalpa-vriksha" tree so often mentioned in the Indian epics and captured in ancient sculptural ornaments. According to legend, one only needs to stand under the branches of the tree, and it, like our magic self-setting tablecloth, will give everything that is asked of it. The baobab indeed gives much to people. From the bark is obtained coarse, unusually strong fiber used to make fishing nets, sacks, saddles, paper and even clothing; the leaves are boiled and eaten as vegetables; the fruits serve as a substitute for fruit, and from them a drink similar to "lemonade" is also prepared, hence another name for the baobab — the lemonade tree. The hollow trunks of the trees are used as temporary dwellings and granaries for storing grain, and in extremely arid regions of Africa they are specifically adapted as reservoirs for storing water. Baobabs are deciduous plants and in their leafless state often have the curious appearance of trees growing upside down, with branches spread over the ground. An African legend explains this as follows. The Creator planted the baobab in the valley of the Congo River, but the tree began to complain about the dampness of that place. It was then transplanted to the slope of the Moon Mountains, but even there the baobab was not satisfied with its fate. Angry at the tree's constant complaints, the Creator uprooted it and threw it onto the dry African land. Since then the baobab has been growing upside down.

The extremely soft, water-saturated wood of baobabs is prone to fungal diseases, which is why the trunks of mature trees are usually hollow. Trees that appear powerful often turn out to be "colossi on clay feet," and elephants, though not without effort, topple them, eating not only the leaves and branches but also the moist wood of the trunks. A baobab dies differently from other trees; it seems to crumble and, gradually settling, leaves behind only a pile of fiber on the ground. Nevertheless, baobabs are extraordinarily hardy; they fear neither fire nor water, according to the Indian legend. If its bark is burned or stripped, the tree quickly restores it. It continues to flower and bear fruit even when, at a human whim, its hollow trunk is filled with water or turned into a dwelling. Uprooted trees cling to life as well, quickly developing new roots, and their leaves do not cease to assimilate. It is therefore not surprising that a tree with wood that seems so fragile is one of the longest-lived plants on Earth. A. Humboldt called them the most ancient organic monument of our planet, and radiocarbon (C14) age determinations carried out in our time have shown an age of more than 5,500 years for an African baobab 4.5 m in diameter. This is very close to the age estimated almost 200 years ago by the French botanist M. Adanson, in whose honor the genus was named. And although many researchers are alarmed by such a large figure and there are estimates indicating a younger age for baobabs (3,000 and even 1,000 years), there is no doubt that baobabs are long-lived trees of the Earth.