🌳 Tree
ANX-TREE-0000015
Baobab
Adansonia digitata
Baobab (Adansonia digitata), a fruit, medicinal, fodder tree of the Malvaceae family.
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Tree type
- Fruit, Medicinal, Fodder
- Mature height (m)
- 5-25
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifespan (years)
- Several hundred to over 1,000 years
- Native region
- Sub-Saharan Africa (mainland and Madagascar).
Environment
Growing Conditions
- Climate requirements
- Semi-arid to arid tropical savanna.
- Soil types
- Tolerates poor, rocky, or sandy soils; extremely drought-tolerant.
- Water requirements
- Highly drought-tolerant - the swollen trunk stores water for use during long dry seasons.
Cultivation
Planting & Care
- Planting guide
- Grown from seed (slow to germinate without pre-treatment); very slow-growing in early years, so mostly propagated from existing wild trees rather than planted at scale.
- Care guide
- Essentially maintenance-free once established; extremely long-lived and resilient to fire and drought.
Phenology
Flowering & Fruiting
- Flowering season
- Large white flowers that open at night and are bat-pollinated
- Fruiting season
- Large hard-shelled fruit ('monkey bread') containing a tangy, nutrient-rich pulp
Value
Uses & Economic Importance
- Uses
- Fruit pulp (high in vitamin C, used in food and beverages), leaves as a vegetable and fodder, bark fibre, and traditional medicine.
- Economic importance
- An iconic African tree increasingly valued commercially for its fruit pulp, which is exported internationally as a 'superfood' ingredient.
Trade
Marketplace
Not currently listed on the Marketplace. List it →