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Night
flowering.
The fruits
are rich in vitamin C.
Four meters
in diameter. |
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The big and beautiful tree-like
succulent appears
only in the southern
part of Africa (and brought around by Arab traders to i.e. Madagascar
and Oman). First described by Carl Linnaeus in 1759. It belongs to the Bombacaceae*
family. The trunk will get op to 15 meter wide and the tree up to 22
meters high. It can be reproduced by cuttings and seeds. Grows best in
a well drained soil, some water and sun in summer and dry in winter.
Seeds have been brought by Arab traders to Madagascar
and Oman where around 100, up to 2000 years old trees can be found
in Dhofar. Those plants have done fine so fare up north, and the
biggest have reached a stem diameter of ten meters!
There are 6-10 species of Adansonias on Madagascar, one in the South
Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and one in
the Kimberley region (Northern and Western Territory), Australia.
Named after the French naturalist Michel Adanson (1727-1806) and
digitata meaning hand-like, is in reference to the shape of the
leafs.
It has gourd/egg-formed green fruits, which can be 12 cm long, with
several seeds in a vitamin C hard-foam.
*This family might been incorporated
in the Malvaceae
family now. Sub-family: Bombacoideae,
tribe: Adansonieae.
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The Kirstenbosch tree - in a
rainy day.
The half year seedlings form
a nice, little caudex.
A good trick to get the seeds
going is to soak them in a cup of hot water.
Dormant tree in Namibia.
How most non-Africans see the
baobabs of Senegal.
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