The baobab has a striking appearance – it looks as though it is standing with its branches in the ground and its roots in the air.
As Brett Westwood discovers in Natural Histories, baobabs are of enormous spiritual and cultural importance to local people as well as being a valuable source of water, food and materials.
1. Baobabs can live for 2000 years
Baobab trees live to be very old and grow to be very tall. The Sunland “Big baobab” in Limpopo Province in South Africa reached 22 metres high and 47 metres in circumference before it toppled over in April 2017.
2. They are also know as “the upside-down tree”
With their huge trunks and spindly branches, baobabs look like they’ve been uprooted, turned upside down and planted again.
Many myths have arisen to explain this. In one story, God calls all the animals of the world together. They form a long queue and he gives each one a tree to plant. The hyena arrives late as usual and, being last in the queue, is given a small baobab. She is so annoyed that she takes the tree and throws it over her shoulder. The baobab lands with its branches in the ground and its roots in the air.
3. Every part of the tree is useful
As a baobab tree grows, its stem becomes hollow, allowing it to store tens of thousands of gallons of water which it can use during dry seasons. People and animals also use the water. This vital source is one reason why the baobab is also known as the tree of life.
The baobab’s canopy provides much needed shelter for people and wildlife that share the sun-scorched plains it lives on.
The tree’s leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach, the bark is used to make rope and paper, the flowers are used to make glue and its seeds are used to make ink.
