Mysterious baobab: a miracle tree

An unusual tree baobab is unique in everything: in size, proportions, life expectancy. Even his magnificent survival rate will be envied by any plant. Baobab is an amazing tree. He is the brightest representative of the family Malvovye, amazingly long living in the arid tropics of the African savannah.

The largest baobab tree

Reaching a good ten meters in the girth of the trunk, the baobab can not boast of a special height: 18-25 meters - its usual growth. Although there are some representatives of this species that have broken all records: in 1991, one baobab hit the famous Guinness book, reaching about 55 meters in the girth of the trunk, other specimens exceeded the 150-meter height limit. And the legend of the life span of this giant is legendary: it is officially recognized that a tree lives from 1000 to 6000 years. The trunk at the top breaks sharply, dividing the thick branches into sides and forming a crown up to 40 meters in diameter. This deciduous plant also resembles the upside-down baobab during the leaf drop. The tree, the photo of which is presented, confirms the amusing appearance. But he fully explains the conditions of growth on dry African lands. The thick trunk is the accumulator of nutrients and water reserves, which the baobab needs. The tree has the second name - Adansonia fingered. This "name" combines the characteristic appearance of 5-7-fallen leaves with the perpetuation of the name of the French biologist Michel Adanson.

The legend of the capricious baobab

It is the associations that come to mind with the tree, whose roots are at the top instead of the crown, most likely, and served as a fertile ground for the birth of the legend of the origin of the baobab. It is said that when the world was created, the Creator planted a tree in the valley of the deep Congo River, but the plant did not like the coolness and dampness of this place. The Creator heeded his requests and moved him to the mountain slopes, but the baobab did not like the winds that are born in the ravines and are shrouding rocks. And then, tired of the endless whims of the tree, God tore it from the ground and turned it upside down, thrust its roots up into the arid valley. Until now, during the fall of the foliage, its entire appearance reminds us of the anger of the gods, an amazing plant baobab - a tree that is not whimsical, on the contrary, has learned to survive and protect all life around.

Interesting facts about the life of baobabs

The incredible vitality of the tree is amazing: it quickly regenerates the damaged bark, grows and fructifies with a completely decomposed core or in its absence. People often use hollow baobab trunks for their own needs. In African countries, it is not uncommon to use the baobab trunks as a storage for cereals or as reservoirs for water. They are accommodated for housing, carving windows and hanging doors. This is facilitated by a fairly soft core of the tree, vulnerable, however, for fungal infections. The cavities cleared from the core inside the tree have sufficient areas for interior arrangement of various purposes. For example, in Kenya, a baobab is growing, serving as a temporary refuge for pilgrims, and in Zimbabwe there is a baobab bus station that can accommodate up to 40 people at a time. In Limpopo, in the 6000-year-old giant, a baobab bar is opened, enjoying incredible popularity and being a local landmark.

Tree for all occasions

A universal plant is unique in all its manifestations. Flowers baobab with a pleasant smell of musk blossom in the evening, pollination occurs at night, and in the morning they
Fall off. The baobab fruit, resembling the shape of thick zucchini, hanging on long stems, is very tasty, high in vitamins and minerals, and on nutrition can be equated to veal. Outside they are covered with a fleecy skin. The local population appreciates them for their pleasant taste, rapid assimilation by the body and the ability to relieve fatigue. Fruit seeds are roasted, ground and used to make a quality substitute for coffee. The dried inner part of the fetus is able to smolder for a long time, driving away the blood-sucking insects, and the ash goes to make butter (surprisingly!) For frying, and also soap. The leaves of the tree are a storehouse of useful substances. They cook soups, make salads and cold snacks. Great taste of young asparagus have shoots. Baobab is a tree, the pollen of which is an excellent basis for making glue. From a porous bark and soft wood, paper, rough fabric, a string resembling Russian hemp are made.

Medicinal properties of baobab

The ash from burning the tree bark is not only a universal fertilizer, but also the main component for the production of highly effective medicines for viral colds, fever states, dysentery, heart and vascular diseases, toothache, asthma, insect bites. The bait prepared from the leaves of baobab facilitates the condition with kidney diseases.

Among the wonderful representatives of the African flora, the leading position is occupied by the baobab. The tree, the photo of which can be seen in the article, is an invaluable gift of nature.