Baobab: The tree that's a Hollywood star but faces an uncertain future

THE genus Adansonia is made up of nine species of deciduous trees of the hibiscus, or mallow, family (Malvaceae) – more commonly known as the baobabs.

Six of these (Adansonia grandidieri, A. madagascariensis, A. perrieri, A. rubrostipa, A. suarezensis, and A. za) are endemic to Madagascar, two (A. digitata and A. kilima) are native to mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and one (A. gregorii) dwells in north-western Australia. 

The baobabs are a prehistoric assemblage which predates both mankind and the splitting of the continents from Gondwanaland over 200 million years ago. With the exception of the one representative left behind in western Australia, they are native to the African savannah region where the climate is extremely dry and arid. They are also resistant to fire and termites. 

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Baobabs grow in 32 African nations. They have unusual barrel-like trunks and are known for their extraordinary longevity and ethnobotanical importance. 

They can live to over a thousand years, reach up to 30 metres high and up to an enormous 50 m in girth. 

Adansonia store water in the trunk (up to 120,000 litres) to endure harsh drought conditions. The trees behave like giant succulents with up to 80 per cent of their trunks made of water. Elephants sometimes tear the trees down to reach the moisture inside.

But the bark regenerates.

Baobab tree flower in Kruger National park, South Africa. (Image: EA)

These trees can provide shade, food and water for animals and humans, which is why many savannah communities have made their homes near baobabs. 

All Adansonia species are adapted to the seasonally dry savannah biome and are deciduous, shedding their leaves during the long dry season and sprouting afresh when the rains come. The foliage is small and in clusters, limiting water loss through transpiration.

A. DIGITATA

This is the most widespread species of baobab in mainland Africa and shows many of the features that the others in the genus do. 

Its large, showy flowers are short lived, packed full of stamens and open in the evening for sometimes just a one-night stand to be pollinated by nocturnal creatures such as fruit bats and bush babies. 

The fruit form during the dry season and stay on the tree, and harden off with the big advantage that they do not rot. They are reputed to be one of the most nutrient-dense foods in the world.

This baobab is the only fruit in the world that dries naturally on its branch. Instead of dropping and spoiling, it stays hanging there and bakes in the sun for six months – transforming its green, velvety coating into a hard coconut-like shell. They are typically up to 20 cm long pods, shaped like rugby balls. The pulp dries out completely. This means the fruit simply needs to be harvested, deseeded and sieved to produce a delicious pure fruit powder.

Seed capsules of the Baobab, Botswana. (Image: EA)

In fact, every part of the baobab tree is valuable – the bark can be turned into rope and clothing, the seeds can be used to make cosmetic oils, the leaves are edible for livestock, the trunks can store water and the fruit is extraordinarily rich in nutrients and antioxidants.

Women in Africa have turned to the baobab fruit as a natural source of health and beauty for centuries.

A GLOBAL WONDER FOOD?

The World Economic Forum has dubbed this plant ‘the tree of life’ as its multiple products could be used on a far wider market.

A trip to your local health food store and a look should reveal that products from baobabs are on the shelves – probably in powdered form. 

So as a bit of a food junkie, I thought I would try some. Baobab powder has a mild tangy flavour and is packed with vitamins and minerals according to what it says on the packet. It is particularly rich in vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium and fibre.

FOLKLORE

Hanging fruit. (Image: EA)

The ‘upside-down’ trees are steeped in local folk beliefs and traditions. Given their peculiar shape, an Arabian legend has it that ‘the devil plucked up the baobab, thrust its branches into the earth, and left its roots in the air’. A new technique for UK arboriculture?

Some people believe that if you pick a flower from a baobab tree you will end up being eaten by a lion, yet if you drink water in which the seeds have been soaked, you will be spared from a crocodile attack.

NOTABLE SPECIMENS

This iconic tree must be one of the most photographed and published on the planet. 

Common throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the African baobab is one of the biggest flowering plants in the world, and reputedly one of the longest-lived. 

Radiocarbon dating has given reliable data on a few individuals of A. digitata. One in Zimbabwe succumbed at 2,450 years old and two others in Namibia and South Africa clocked in at over 2,000. 

These trees are symbols of life and positivity in a landscape where little else can thrive.

The striking silhouette of a baobab tree at sunset is a familiar sight to anyone who has spent time in rural Africa – but it is also well known all across the world for its starring roles in Disney’s The Lion King (it is Rafiki the monkey’s tree), Avatar (the Tree of Souls), Madagascar and the famous children’s novel The Little Prince.

Few if any baobabs grow outside in Europe. There is one specimen in Kew Gardens – an Adansonia za from Madagascar – in the Princess of Wales Conservatory. It grows so vigorously that yearly pruning is essential to stop it from getting out through the roof.

And the Eden Project boasts examples in its Rainforest Biome. They are popular with UK bonsai enthusiasts. 

It’s also known as the upside-down tree, because its bare branches look like roots, or as the monkey bread tree, because of its nutritious and edible fruit. It’s exceptionally long-lived, but recently, more and more of the oldest baobabs have been dying off.

TREES IN TROUBLE

Sunrise over Avenue of the baobabs, Madagascar. (Image: EA)

Across Africa, the oldest and largest baobabs began to decline and fall from the early 21st century, likely from a combination of drought and rising temperatures. 

The trees appear to become parched, then dehydrated; unable to support their massive trunks, they collapse.

Changes in the timing and amounts of seasonal rainfall with global warming – plus overuse – threaten the continued existence of middle-aged and veteran baobabs.

The iconic baobabs of Madagascar symbolise the island’s unique wildlife as much as its lemurs. The magnificent Grandidier’s baobab is the best-known species there but is also classified as ‘endangered’ through overexploitation and habitat change.

THE FUTURE

Perhaps a saviour for the baobabs may be the harvesting and processing of the fruit by local people to sell on the powdered product to the western health food market. Projects such as the Great Green Wall and Tree Aid are promoting the use of the fruit from these wild trees across the Sahel region together with experimentally planting them as a crop to provide an additional sustainable, long-term income stream for villagers.