Landscapes in North Namibia are decorated with lush vegetation. One tree, however, stands out due to an unusual form – This is a baobab.
Locals say the tree is planted with roots up. According to legend, the Creator in anger threw a tree through the wall of Paradise on Mother Earth. It landed in Africa, the crown fell into the soil, so only a brilliant brown trunk and roots are visible.
Where the baobab grows
Baobab – African tree, but some species can be found on the island of Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula and in Australia.
Figurative names for an unusual tree
The baobab is called the tree of the dead rat (at a distance the fruits look like dead rats), monkeys (monkeys love fruits) or cream-wood (pods dissolved in water or milk, replace cream during baking).
Baobab – This is a tree of an unusual shape that grows to a height of 20 m or more. Old trees have an extremely wide trunk, which is sometimes hollow inside. Baobabs reach the age of 2000 years.
Even elephants seem small when they stand under the ancient baobab. There are many myths and legends about these majestic trees, which, it seems, are relics from another era of our planet. These amazing giants witnessed many events on the African continent over more than a thousand years. Countless generations of people passed under their deciduous crowns. Baobabs give asylum to people and wild animals.
Types of baobabs
Baobabs are endemic for Africa countries south of Sahara in the districts of Savann. These are deciduous trees, which means that they lose leaves in the dry winter season. The trunks have a metal brown color and look like several roots are attached to each other. Some species have smooth trunks. The crust is similar to the skin. Baobabs – These are not typical trees. Their soft and spongy trunk stores a lot of water during drought. There are nine types of baobabs, two of which are Aborigines of Africa. Other species grow on Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula and Australia.
Adansonia Madagascariensis
Adansonia digitata
Adansonia Perrieri
Adansonia Rubrostipa
Adansonia Kilima
Adansonia Gregorii
Adansonia suarezensis
Adansonia za
Adansonia Grandidieri
Baobabs are also met in other parts of the world, such as the islands of the Caribbean and the islands of Cabo-Verde.
Famous baobabs in Namibia
A wellknown and revered attraction in the northern part of Central Namibia is the Baobab tree near Outapi, whose height is 28 m, the volume of the barrel is about 26 m.
25 adults, holding on his outstretched hands, cover the baobab. It was used as a shelter in the 1800s, when the tribes were at enmity. The headman cut the hollow in a tree at a level of earth, 45 people hid in it. In subsequent years, since 1940, the tree was used as a post office, a bar, later as a chapel. Baobab is still growing and fruit every year. He is about 800 years old.
Another huge baobab grows in Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi region and has a somewhat unflattering reputation: when opening the door in the trunk, the visitor sees the toilet with a tank! This toilet is one of the most photographed objects in Katima.
The thickest in the world of Baobab
When bloom and fruit biababs
Baobab tree begins to bear fruit only after it turns 200 years old. The flowers are beautiful, large sweetly smelling in the form of cream-white cream. But their beauty is shortlived, they fade within 24 hours.
Pollination is quite unusual: the pollen is transferred by fruit bats, insects and small fluffy night wood animals with big eyes – Brush lemurs.
Baoobab flowering
Various parts of the leaves, fruits and bark were used by local residents for food and for medical purposes. The fruit is hard, oval, weighs more than one kilogram. The pulp inside is tasty and rich in vitamin C and other nutrients, fruit powder contains antioxidants.
Baobab oil is produced by crushing seeds, it gains more and more popularity in the cosmetic industry.
Photo of Baobab with a person
