Baobab

Where it grows

The African baobab inhabits dry savannas across sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal to Sudan and south to Botswana. Madagascar has six additional baobab species, several of which are endangered. Baobabs prefer free-draining sandy soils and survive long dry seasons by storing water in their massive trunks.

How to recognise it

A baobab is unmistakable: a wildly bulbous trunk topped by a sparse crown of stubby branches that resemble roots in the air, giving rise to the legend that the tree was planted upside down. The compound leaves with five to seven leaflets emerge only in the wet season. Large, pendulous white flowers open at dusk and are pollinated by fruit bats.

Uses

The dry, powdery fruit pulp is rich in vitamin C and is now exported as a “superfood” ingredient for smoothies and bars. The bark yields strong fibre for ropes and baskets, the leaves are eaten as greens, and hollow trunks have served as shelters, shops, and even a bus stop and a prison.

Conservation

Several of Africa’s largest and oldest baobabs have collapsed in the past two decades, an unexplained die-off many researchers link to climate stress.