File:Baobab with fruit, near Ifaty, Madagascar (3445328617).jpg

Adansonia - In the Spiny Desert at Ifaty.

From Wikipedia - Baobab is the common name of a genus (Adansonia) containing eight species of trees, native to Madagascar (having six species), mainland Africa and Australia (one species in each). The mainland African species also occurs on Madagascar, but it is not a native of that island.

Other common names include boab, boaboa, bottle tree, upside-down tree, and monkey bread tree. The species reach heights of 5 to 30 metres (16 to 98 ft) and trunk diameters of 7 to 11 metres (23 to 36 ft). An African Baobab specimen in Limpopo Province, South Africa, often considered the largest example alive, has a circumference of 47 metres (150 ft) and an average diameter of 15 metres (49 ft).

Some baobabs are reputed to be many thousands of years old, which is difficult to verify as the wood does not produce annual growth rings, though radiocarbon dating may be able to provide age data.

The Malagasy species are important components of the Madagascar dry deciduous forests. Within that biome, A. madagascariensis and A. rubrostipa occur specifically in the Anjajavy Forest, sometimes growing out of the tsingy limestone itself.

Beginning in 2008, there has been increasing interest for developing baobab as a nutrient-rich raw material for consumer products.

Adansonia digitata – African Baobab (western, northeastern, central & southern Africa) Adansonia grandidieri – Grandidier's Baobab (Madagascar) Adansonia gregorii (syn. A. gibbosa) – Boab or Australian Baobab (northwest Australia) Adansonia madagascariensis – Madagascar Baobab (Madagascar) Adansonia perrieri – Perrier's Baobab (North Madagascar) Adansonia rubrostipa (syn. A. fony) – Fony Baobab (Madagascar) Adansonia suarezensis – Suarez Baobab (Diego Suarez, Madagascar) Adansonia za – Za Baobab (Madagascar)