Adansonia (lat. Adansonia), or baobab - a genus of tropical trees from the family Malvaceae. It lives in hot savannahs. The exotic plant has about ten species distributed throughout the African continent and the island of Madagascar.
Botanical Description
Baobab is not like an ordinary tree, it resembles a giant carrot sticking out of the ground with a bunch of tops or a small tower. Plants rarely reach a height of 17–18 m, but the width of the trunks of individual specimens is up to 8–10 m. Closer to the top, the trees become thinner, but not by much. The root system is branched. The roots spread widely apart from the trunks, finding and absorbing the smallest drops of moisture. These trees do not create thickets, prefer to grow individually.
The side shoots of the baobabs are located almost on the crown, their bare trunks are covered with a full brownish-brown bark the entire length. Its upper part is quite soft, the lower is harder, hides a large amount of moisture underneath. Branches are few, thickened, clumsy, form a ragged shapeless crown. The leaves are brown-green, with a smooth surface, simple or palmate, five- or seven-lobed, about 10 cm long and 5 cm wide.
Baobabs bloom from October to December. White five-fingered corollas with long red stamens usually blossom on branches without leaves. The buds grow up to 20 cm in diameter, hang on short pedicels. Each flower lives no more than a day. In the evening, it produces a spicy aroma that attracts the surrounding insects and bats. By morning, the flower petals close, an unpleasant putrefactive odor appears. After a few hours, the bud completely fades, comes off, falls to the ground. In its place remains an ovary. After a few weeks, fleshy fruits ripen like bloated cucumbers or small melons. Powdery flesh, with a sour taste, containing many small dark seeds, is hidden under a light green fleecy thick shell.
The wood is soft, saturated with moisture, has no annual rings.
Living conditions
Adansonia refers to succulentsable to concentrate water in their fleshy tissues. Habitat conditions predispose to the survival of such species. Hot weather with long dry seasons, scarce soils are destructive for broad-leaved species with dense crowns, lots of greenery. Baobabs during a drought are reduced in size, the trunks are significantly blown away, the leaves fall off. The plant begins to spend the accumulated moisture economically. With the onset of the rainy season, the trees are again filled with water, bloat.
The vitality of baobabs is surprising. They do not die after removal of most of the bark from the trunks, grow from a small area of the root preserved after cutting. Soft watery wood in hot conditions is easily affected by the fungus. But even with severe destruction, rotting of the massif, the formation of large voids, the tree continues to grow, bear fruit. The life span of adansonium is about 1000 years. Baobabs grow slowly. Every year they rise by 5-10 cm, distributed in breadth up to 40 cm.
Legends of origin
Residents of the localities in which the baobab lives, tell an ancient legend explaining the origin and strange appearance of the tree. God, creating the earth and all life on it, settled this plant in the most fertile and picturesque place near the great Congo River. But the tree turned out to be moody and did not want to stay there. The noise of water, dampness interfered with him. Due to the strong winds, the mountain valley was also not liked by the baobab. For a long time God tried to please the tree by choosing different places. In the end, he became angry, tore out the baobab, and stuck up roots in the dry savannah most unsuitable for life. The plant had to get used to new conditions, learn to absorb rare sediments, come to terms with a curious appearance.
Another legend says that baobab used to grow in heaven, reached gigantic proportions. Once he was thrown from there to the ground, because the Creator decided to stop the development of the giant. The branches stuck into the soil, and the roots remained sticking up.
Places of distribution
Adansonia Gregory (lat. Adansonia gregorii) lives in the northwestern territories of Australia, in places where the climate is similar to the savannahs of Africa.
Some species are common in the northern and western parts of Madagascar and throughout the African savannah: from Sudan to southern tropical latitudes, from Mauritania to the east coast.
In Madagascar, Aborigines consider Baobab a sacred tree.. It is believed that in every village there must be at least one amulet that protects the well-being of residents. Adansonia also serves as a source of food, water for people and animals. African elephants are very fond of eating these trees whole. Monkeys feast on the pulp of the fruit. Because of this, the baobabs got another name - monkey breadfruit.
Application
All parts of a tree contain a lot of moisture. Leaves, fruit pulp, bark are suitable for human consumption.
Bark
Seasoning for national dishes is made from the soft part of the tree bark. Ash is used in folk medicine as an antiseptic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent for colds, intestinal disorders, bites of poisonous insects and reptiles.
From bast fibers weave baskets, mats, fishing nets, make ropes, threads. In Europe, paper is produced from this part of the bark.
Leaves and shoots
Not only animals eat greens and young branches of adansonium. In some national cuisines, this is a very popular ingredient. Fresh leaves are used in salads, soups, they are baked, boiled and stewed. Sprigs marinate, add to various dishes. From dried leaves and shoots, tinctures are prepared, used to treat inflammatory diseases.
Tree pollen is used as a raw material for cooking soap and glue.
Fruits and seeds
The flesh of the baobab fruit is light cream in color, in consistency resembles a pumpkin, and emits a ginger aroma. It is edible, contains vegetable proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and many useful mineral compounds. Ascorbic acid and B vitamins in it are much more than in other fruits and vegetables. Eat both raw and dried fruits. The pulp is also dried, ground into powder, and used to make a drink similar to ginger lemonade.
Raw seeds nibble like sunflower. Dried - finely ground, prepare a coffee drink from them.
It is believed that the fruits of baobabs perfectly relieve fatigue, prevent many diseases, saturate the body no worse than meat and bread.
Even the hard shell of the fruit goes into business. Halves of the shell are used as plates for storing small things, set fire to it and drive away tropical smoke from the smoke. Hair preparations are made from ash.
Wood
In industry, the baobab wood mass is practically not used. It does not have the properties of building materials. Powerful trunks - a source of moisture. Loose fibers after drying go to the manufacture of ropes. Baobab roots contain red pigment, juice is sometimes used as a natural dye.
Interesting Facts
- Baobab is depicted on the state emblems of some African republics.
- Baanab was named Adanson in honor of the biologist Michel Adanson, who described the monstrous thickness of the tree. The circumference was about 55 m, and the age was more than 5000 years.
- Baobab bark is characterized by refractory properties.If the trees still burn, then they continue to grow..
- Even trees fallen to the ground do not die. If the roots have survived, then new branches and leaves grow on them. Baobabs are able to live in a horizontal position.
- Inside soft watery trunks, due to a fungal infection, huge hollows, more like caves, are often formed. Residents use them as sheds, bathhouses, warehouses, houses and even prisons.Trees turned into various rooms do not stop living, continue to bloom, bear fruit.
- The root system penetrates to great depths, fills all the adjacent space on the surface. Despite the fact that the crowns of the baobabs do not give any shadow, nothing grows under them. There are not even small bushes and grass. Root shoots take away all nutrients, displace other flora.
- Outdated baobabs do not dry out, but gradually crumble and turn into a bunch of individual fibers. There is no solid mineral deposits in their wood, therefore, when age-related changes occur in the bark, and moisture leaves the trunks, nothing holds their skeleton. Decay occurs over several decades.