a genus made up of eight species of medium to large deciduous trees known as baobabs
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Adansonia species reach a height of five to twenty-five meters (ten to eighty feet), with exceptional trees reaching thirty meters (100 feet). The trunk diameter can be particularly impressive, with a diameter often of seven meters (23 feet), and exceptional trees having a diameter over eleven meters (thirty-six feet). These are among the stoutest trees in the world.
This genus is commonly known by the name baobab, it contains around 8 species of deciduous trees distributed mostly in Madagascar, with some species found in Africa, Australia and Arabia. Plants in this genus tend to have fibrous, fleshy trunks adapted to store water and typically these grow to be between 7-11m wide. They can grow to over 30m tall, producing alternately arranged, simple leaves in young specimens, which develop into divided foliage consisting of 3-9 leaflets in mature specimens. Big, white, 5-petalled, hanging flowers are usually produced singly. These have showy modified leaves surrounding the flower and develop into edible baobab fruits. Both the leaves and fruit are consumed in a variety of ways including baking and powdered-form. In some species, the seeds are also used to create vegetable oil.
