Bizarre Baobabs

Baobab trees are native to Africa, the Arabian peninsula, and Asia (one species), and Australia (one species), but there are six species that are endemic to Madagascar.  They can grow to be 100 feet tall with trunks that can reach over 100 feet in diameter.  These trees may be thousands of years old, but it's hard to tell.  You can't count the growth rings because they don't have any.  If you really want to know how old a tree is, you have to use radiocarbon dating.  Why the huge trunk?  Baobabs store water there - up to 32,000 gallons - so they can survive in very dry areas. 

This species native to Madagascar looks like a redwood with a crewcut and is the largest of the six species in Madagascar, as well as the best known!

Grandidier's Baobab   Source: Wikipedia

It has flowers said to smell like bitter watermelon and they are not pollinated by insects. Instead small nocturnal animals like lemurs are the culprits as they stick their faces into the flowers to lick the nectar.

The African species is found continent wide and is more likely to occur in the dry savannahs or shrublands. 

Adansonia digitata   Source: Wikipedia

Baobabs are also known as the monkey-bread tree because of its odd-looking fruit that resembles a coconut.

Source:  Wikipedia

It may look strange, but it is very nutritious - high in calcium, vitamin C and antioxidants.  This species' flower smells like carrion and is pollinated mainly by fruit bats.

Source:  Wikipedia

The Australian species is locally known just as the boab.  One famous tree, the Derby Prison Tree, has a hollow trunk and was supposedly used as a prison lockup when transporting prisoners.

The Derby boab, Western Australia   Source: Wikipedia

The Suarez Baobab in Madagascar is an endangered species.

Source:  Wikipedia

If you ever get to Limpopo, South Africa you really need to visit the The Big Baobab Pub which is built inside a baobab tree that is 72 feet high with a trunk of 154 feet in circumference.  Located on Sunland Farm, the hollow tree trunk contains a bar and a wine cellar.  The tree itself is estimated to be 6000 years old!  For more information and a 360 degree view inside the tree, click here.