Baobab
Adansonia digitata · Plant
The African baobab is a massive, long-lived tree of dry savannas. Its swollen trunk stores water, allowing it to survive long droughts, and some individuals have lived for well over a thousand years.
Key facts
- Scientific name
- Adansonia digitata
- Kind
- Plant
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN LC)
- Habitat
- Savanna & dry woodland
- Range
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Size
- Up to 25 m tall; trunks over 10 m wide
- Lifespan
- 1,000–2,500+ years
- Diet
- Photosynthesis
- Activity
- Deciduous · flowers open at night
- Population
- Widespread across African savannas
Diet
Makes its own food through photosynthesis. During the long dry season it drops its leaves and relies on water stored in its spongy, fibrous trunk.
Behavior
Large white flowers open at night and are pollinated mainly by fruit bats. The vitamin-rich fruit pulp, leaves and bark have been used by people for food, medicine and fibre for millennia.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Malvales
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Genus
- Adansonia
- Species
- A. digitata
Conservation
Not threatened overall, but several of the oldest and largest baobabs have died since 2005. Researchers suspect climate change may be a factor.
Main threats
- Changing rainfall and rising temperatures
- Overharvesting of bark and fruit