The African baobab (Adansonia digitata) is a deciduous tree with a stout trunk that can grow 25-30 m tall. Native to arid and semi-arid regions, these giant succulents (pachycauls) can hold large quantities of water in their trunks. Here are some interesting facts about the baobab – a strange looking tree that grows in low-lying areas in Africa and Australia. In the botanical world, we know these upside-down trees to be part of the genus Adansonia. There are nine different species in total, with six found only in Madagascar. The most commonly found baobab is Adansonia digitata. These sturdy trees are some of the oldest, largest, and longest-living angiosperms, or flowering trees . They are thought to have evolved nearly 200 million years ago (they were even there when the dinosaurs went extinct about 66 million years ago!). Baobabs tend to live ... Adansonia digitata , the African baobab , is the most widespread tree species of the genus Adansonia, the baobabs, and is native to the African continent and the southern Arabian Peninsula (Yemen, Oman). These are long-lived pachycauls; radiocarbon dating has shown at least one individual to be 1,275 years old. They are typically found in dry, hot savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, where they dominate the landscape and reveal the presence of a watercourse from afar. They have traditionally been ...
