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The baobab tree fascine, its short branches
which spring towards the sky resemble roots
and could let believe that the tree draws
its force from the sky. Such Atlas, the
giant of Greek mythology, it seems to carry
the ground to end of branches. We discovered
it with much pleasure starting from El Obeid
to 600 km in the South-west of Khartoum.
One day in the village of Ghubeish, an old
man with speaking to us about these trees
cisterns in which they stored water. Without
waiting more, accompanied by old by the
village, we left in the bush to research
specimens hollow and filled with water.
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It is our first meeting with the
tree. We had already seen it by far.
This one is not most imposing that
we saw. Once more Adrienne makes a
running away and tries to camouflage
like his/her new friend the chameleon
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The new pal of Adrienne,
we met it with the foot of the baobab
tree which one sees on the photo preceding
one.
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Photograph of group
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This baobab tree made
us think of an old tired man who appuye
on the ground.
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Which is thus the use
of this hole?
The Baobab tree is often hollow. The
cavity of the trunk can be useful
for many uses but that which imports
us is water.
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Mohammed presents the
tree to us reserves water. By this
hole one fills the tree with water
recovered on the ground during the
rain season (2000 L). A door which
one sees a part still there on the
left, made it possible to protect
water from the animals.
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Ali mimes the harvest
of water. It bails out on the ground
using a container out of stainless
and filled a can that Mohammed goes
up with the cord.
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Moreover this one was
not filled this year and a couple
of owl lives it.
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This other specimen
much larger (4000 L) is full of water.
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Photograph of group,
it is the miracle of Africa we are
in full bush 1 km from a very small
village but in 40 min everyone with
have wind of our interest for this
tree and all wanted to make us share
of their comments.
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And to finish
a beautiful African history...
"... There are in front
of us a source and a small pond. When no
wind blows, the surface of the pond is smooth
like a mirror. There is very, very a long
time, the baobab tree was near water and
drew up its summit towards the sky.
It saw the other trees which
had flowered chevelures, tender barks and
sheets. All étincelaient of color
and the baobab tree saw all that in the
mirror and it was unhappy. Its sheets with
him were tiny, its unperceivable flowers.
It was fatty and its bark resembled the
wrinkled skin of an old elephant. The tree
called upon God and complained with him.
God had created the tree and
was satisfied with his work which was not
similar to the others. He liked diversity.
Only, it could not support criticism. It
asked the tree if it found beautiful the
hippopotamus or pleasant the cry of the
hyena. Then God withdrew himself in the
clouds. He wanted that one let it reflect
in peace. The creation of men which it would
like caused him concern already well....
The baobab tree ceased, neither to look
itself in the mirror, nor to raise towards
him its complaints. God thus went down,
seizes the baobab tree, raised it, turned
over it and replanted it in the ground.
Thus the tree was not seen any more and
did not complain any more. All had returned
in the order..."
Origin of
the word "Baobab"
The first description would
have been made by Portuguese Gomes Eanes
de Zurara in the "Cronica back feitos
of Guiné" about 1450: "...
its fruit is like a water-bottle... Following
this observation, it thus bore the name
of calebassier of XVth at the XVIIIth century.
Prospero Alpino writes"bahobab",
written in competition with baobab
and speaks in fact about the fruit: "bahobab
est fructus...". The word would be
a transliteration of time of the Arab term
"bu hibab" meaning the
"fruit with many seeds".
Jussieu and Linné saw well that the
samples sent by Adanson corresponded to
a tree already described in Egypt, and deduce
from it that the name is not to seek in
a West African language, but in Arabic of
Egypt where "lobab means
nut, almond or similar. It is also
the common noun for pulp or very produced
of a fruit. It is also the marrow of any
tree...
In Sudan to indicate baobab tree one
speaks about the "tabaldi".
Some technical
details on the baobab tree:
Family : Bombacaceae
(dycotylédones dialypétales)
Origin : Africa, Madagascar, Australia
Period of flowering : from May to
August
Color of the flowers : the flowers
of the baobab tree are large, white, having
of 1500 to 2000 cheesecloths. They release
a not very pleasant odor. It is a one night
old flower which opens the twilight and
to fan at dawn. Pollination is generally
ensured by the bats and others micromammifères
nourishing abundant sweetened nectar of
the flower.
Trunk and sheets :The adult tree
has a strong and squat trunk, often hollow.
It carries sheets during the rain season
(from May to November).
Fruits : The fruits have forms variable
according to species' of baobab tree, spherical
ovoid, lengthened ellipsoidal. The envelope
is fluffy, lasts, woody, green brownish
or gray yellowish, filled of a white pulp
or dew. This pulp contains many seeds of
the size of a bean, hard, réniformes,
brown black with incrustations brown red.
Cut : from 3 m to 25 m, trunk up to
12 m in diameter. The baobab tree is not
the tree highest of the world (the record
being held by the giant sequoia 111,60m),
nor the tree having the largest trunk (Chestnut
of Sicily which had 64m circumference and
has of them nothing any more but 51 because
of a storm).
Species :
The kind includes/understands 10 species
- Adansonia digitata, species common
of African savannas, it is the only species
with the hanging flowers - 25 m. It is
the one we saw in Sudan
- Adansonia grandidieri, baobab tree of
Madagascar to the red bark - 25 m
- Adansonia madagascariensis, baobab tree
of Madagascar to the red bark is surely
the baobab tree with the strangest form
due to its trunk with the variable diameter
- 20 m
- Adansonia za, the baobab tree of Madagascar
more running
- Adansonia gibbosa, the baobab tree of
Australia - 10 m
Use: almost all is
used in the baobab tree; seeds for oil,
the fruits to make a drink, the vegetable
sheets.... To note that wood is without
spongy use because. Certain traditionelles
medicines use parts of the tree as drug.
In the process
of disappearance :
The baobab tree Adansonia
digitata becomes rare in Sudan and in Érythrée.
Indeed, eaten by the cattle, rising generation
does not replace any more the old trees
which disappear gradually from savanna.
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