The lowveld has some very special trees, and one of the most impressive is the Baobab. Having spent time moving north through the lowveld, these incredible, magnificent, behemoth creatures, become more and more abundant as you progress north. They almost subliminally make one realise that you cannot miss the opportunity to dig deeper and learn more about these beasts.
Large trees are more apparent – I’m always on the lookout for young trees, but these are difficult to recognize and are seldom seen. This is because the leaf structure changes with time, to the point that there is this feeling that young trees don’t exist out in the bush – and as per some of the local traditional beliefs that there are no young Baobabs.
The young sprouts of the tree can be eaten like asparagus, and the roots of very young trees are also somewhat edible. One may think that this is the reason it disguises itself so well when young, so it doesn’t fall victim to human harvesting.
The local folklore tells us about the fully developed ones being flung from paradise, and as they are top-heavy, they land with their roots in the air (hence the upside down tree). This is much like the few young gents that hit the gym, most forgetting about leg days along with ego, and the first beer down the hatch they look like an ostrich burying it’s head!
Ok maybe that was the wrong analogy, possibly a bit more like me with a wide circumference and soft, spongy fibrous inner core, with an incredible water content of 40% to 70 % – especially after a sojourn to the local pub with a few Zwakalas under the belt – this is what gives the baobab recognition as the world’s largest succulent.
Some of these incredible specimens have had an extreme makeover. Some of the trees inner heartwood dies and then with time healing of the inner surface, the hollow insides are often made use of by many animals of the bushveld, including porcupines, genets, jackals, leopards, bats, parrots, hornbills and rollers. Over the years we have seen other conversions to housing pubs, toilets and even prisons within the confines of the tree.
The fibrous, string-like bark is used for various items such as pulp, mats, ropes, fishing nets and even clothing. Although the bark is heavily eaten by elephants and used by people, another fascinating thing is that they have the ability to grow another layer, and not fall victim to ring barking. This is unlike most hard wood trees with an inner cambium layer, the Boabab will survive the onslaught from elephants with the resultant damage to and harvesting of, the bark.
Another astonishing feature about these colossal giants is their age. There is so much speculation, and the more you research, the more it varies. Recent work using carbon-dating techniques, suggest an average tree with a diameter of 10m may be as old as 2000 years. Some species are big enough to be pushing three to four thousand years of age – so Mr Leadwood, take a seat.
The large white and sweetly scented flowers, emerge in the late afternoon in early summer (from October to December). They emerge to have a beautiful and pleasant one-night stand with the pollinators, bats been the primary one; but many different insects and other creatures, such as birds, will visit and take advantage of this very short-lived flower, and play their critical role in the pollination process.
The fruit, looks like an old brown leather rugby ball, consisting of a hard, woody outer shell with a dry powdery substance inside, that covers the hard, black, kidney-shaped seeds. The seeds are not generally eaten by animals, but the outer parts are relished and eaten by monkeys and baboons. Humans however have found another use, by roasting these seeds as a substitute for coffee to get their morning fix of personality.
So the next time you pass one of these pre-historic, botanical phenomena, relish in its biblical glory, and admire the beauty it creates in our beautiful landscape – it is the true charmer of our piece of land.
