6144 x 4081 px | 52 x 34,6 cm | 20,5 x 13,6 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
18 ottobre 2007
Ubicazione:
Africa Mozambique Cabo Delgado province
Altre informazioni:
From Wikipedia, the Free encyclopedia: Baobab is the common name of a genus (Adansonia) containing eight species of trees, native to Madagascar (the centre of diversity, with 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 country. Other common names include boab, boaboa, bottle tree and monkey bread tree. The species reach a height of 5–25 m, 10-80ft (exceptionally 30 m, 100ft), and often a trunk diameter of 7 m, 23ft (exceptionally over 11 m, 36ft). A specimen in Limpopo Province South Africa, often considered the largest example alive, has a girth of 155 feet and an average diameter of 15 m, 49ft. Baobabs store water inside the swollen trunk, up to 120, 000 litres (32, 000 US gallons), to endure the harsh drought conditions particular to each region. All occur in seasonally arid areas, and are deciduous, shedding their leaves during the dry season. Some are reputed to be many thousands of years old, though this is impossible to verify as the wood does not produce annual growth rings. Few botanists believe these claims of extreme age; current evidence suggests they rarely exceed 400 years.
