There are eight species of baobab in the world, and they have a surprising distribution. Six are found in Madagascar, an island in the Indian Ocean; one is found on the continent of Africa; and the last is far away in Australia.
Plants & Animals
Jun 6, 2024
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The baobab (Adansonia) is a genus of trees with eight currently extant species and a long history of humans marveling at them. For as much admiration as the baobabs get, there is an equal amount of mystery surrounding their ...
Evolution
May 15, 2024
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Six of the world's eight baobab species are indigenous to Madagascar, where the distinctive trees with giant trunks have historically grown in huge forests. But these forests are threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture—4,000 ...
Ecology
May 13, 2024
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Madagascar is an important world conservation "hot spot" that supports a large number of endemic species. It is home to six endemic baobab species, the most remarkable trees in Africa. What will be the effect of global climate ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 15, 2021
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Baobabs are the mainstay of rural communities in some parts of Africa—they provide food in the form of leaves that are cooked like spinach, and large oval fruit which are rich in vitamin C. Oils are extracted from the crushed ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 14, 2021
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The African baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) is called the tree of life. Baobab trees can live for more than a thousand years and provide food, livestock fodder, medicinal compounds, and raw materials. Baobab trees are incredibly ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 27, 2020
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Even giant trees begin their life as humble seeds.
Plants & Animals
Apr 21, 2020
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You have to fast-forward almost 80 years from the origins of Fauna & Flora International (FFI) before you find any formal acknowledgement of our interest in things botanical, but plant conservation was on our agenda long ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 11, 2019
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From before dawn, 54-year-old grandmother Annah Muvhali weaves between baobab trees that loom over her rural South African home, collecting fruit that enthusiasts worldwide hail as a "superfood".
Environment
Sep 24, 2018
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Africa's ancient baobab, with its distinctive swollen trunk and known as the "tree of life," is under a new and mysterious threat, with some of the largest and oldest dying abruptly in recent years.
Environment
Jul 12, 2018
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