Adansonia digitata (Introduced)

Malvaceae s. l. ~ Bombacaceae (baobab family) » Adansonia digitata
Synonyms: A. baobab, A. situla, A. somalensis, A. sphaerocarpa, A. sulcata
ad-an-SOH-nee-uh — named for Michel Adanson, French surgeon, botanist and naturalist
dig-ee-TAH-tuh or dij-ee-TAH-tuh — finger
Native to: northeastern, central and southern Africa
Edible use:

Quoted from Wikipedia

flowers & leaves:  eaten by people as a salad
seeds:  eaten raw or roasted
pith:  used to make a sort of ‘lemonade’ when mixed with water
Quoted from Tropical Flowering Tree Soceity

some facts:

… some large individuals living to well over a thousand years of age … Wikipedia

… giant individuals attain a girth of up to 28 m … World Agroforestry Centre

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baobab or gorakh chinch:

– We have seen these trees planted on roadside at Mandu, Madhya Pradesh.

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– Gorakh chinch, Photos from my archives

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– At some places, it was planted by britishers. Native of African continent. Interestingly this is not native but still finds mention in the vedas as Parijat tree.
Wild species of this have been reported from India.

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–  Baobab or Gorakhchich is also known as Monkey-bread tree or Upside down tree (when leafless it appears as if the roots are up in the sky!).  Botanically it is Adansonia digitata.

This is an ecologically important tree and there is a beautiful film titled Baobab which shows the life around this tree all around the day and night.

This is not Parijat.  Parijat of Prajakt is Nyctanthes arbor-tristris, a very popular / fragrant garden plant – small tree / big shrub.  The scented pretty small flowers with white petals and orange tube bloom in the evening and fall in the early morning, perfect for the believers to collect and use for pooja.  The plant supposed to have emerged during the churning of the ocean by devas and danavas.  The origin is recorded as East India and Sumatra, however the plant is not really seen in wilderness but mostly in gardens and plantations.  The leaves are rough and used like sand paper to polish wood.

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– … it may happen that a name popular for a plant in one region could be not so in another. In context of regions, a popular name of one plant could be altogether shared by another plant.

   Parijat is one such example. In most of India, Nyctanthes arbor-tristris is well known as Parijat, it
could be so even in the area where the baobab Adansonia digitata OR the Indian coral tree, Erythrina indica (syn. of Erythrina variegata) is / are  known by the same name. For a good justification that baobab indeed is
known by the name somewhere in India, it is seen featured on Indian postal stamp … reference:
Travel india guide
Link to one of earlier discussions on Parijat …
Interestingly, there is no entry found for parijata(ka) as a name for Nyctanthes in some of very well-known Sanskrit dictionaries like:

 • Monier-Williams Dictionary …
• Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte’s The practical
Sanskrit-English dictionary … http://tinyurl.com/4m4fcrx

Flowers of Baobab – Adansonia digitata: Location : Mhow, Dist Indore, MP

Flowers and buds of Baobab– Adansonia digitata 

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Baobab Tree, Adansonia digitata pictures: Wanted to share photos of the magnificent Baobab tree, Adansonia digitata.
Photographed in Adyar Theosophical Society Gardens in Chennai on 12 July, 2011 (tree and flower) and 19 July, 2011 (fruits). Planted/cultivated in the garden. Red flowers in the foreground of the tree photograph belong to a Gulmohar tree. Cultivated.

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This is beautiful. Its one of my most favourite trees.

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Baobab Tree, Adansonia digitata pictures: Here are a few pictures of the Baobob tree, Adansonia digitata. This was photographed from a temple premises near the coast in Kasargod district, Kerala, on Jan 27 2007. This is the only baobab tree in this region and no one seems to know how it came to be here. The saddest part is that, people have been burning fallen leaves and other rubbish right under the tree as part of ‘cleaning up’, a regular sight in Kerala! The main trunk is charred and I wonder how long the tree will last.

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very nice i had seen in aurangabad maharastra 2010 a international seminar of taxonomy.

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Oh one more Adansonia. Thanks for sharing. I love this tree.
…, why dont you try sharing the images of one in Hazaribagh. You told me there is one tree in university.

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Beautiful Baobab is seen in Theosophical society campus, Adyar.

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Malvaceae week :: Adansonia digitata: Adansonia digitata L.

[image: Baobab Africain]<>
May 3, 2007 in premises of SEEPZ, Andheri, Mumbai

Commonly known a: baobab, bottle tree, cream of tartar tree, dead-rat tree, Ethiopian sour bread, lemonade tree, monkey-bread tree, sour gourd • * Bengali*: gadhagachh • *Hindi*: गोरख ईमली gorakh imli • *Kannada*: ಬ್ರಃಮಾఠಲಿಕ brahmamlika • *Marathi*: गोरख चिंच gorakh chinch, वावबाब vavabab • *Sanskrit*: सर्पदण्डि sarpadandi • *Tamil*: பப்பரப்புளி papparappuli, பெரியமரவகை periyamaravakai • *Telugu*: brahmaaamlika

   – [image: Baobab tree]<>…
Mar 6, 2007 in premises of SEEPZ, Andheri, Mumbai
– [image: Dead Rat Tree]<>…
Mar 6, 2007 in premises of SEEPZ, Andheri, Mumbai
– [image: Baobab]<>…
May 9, 2010 at Veermata Jeejabai Bhosale Udyan, Mumbai
– [image: Gadhagachh (in Bengali)]<>…
May 9, 2010 at Veermata Jeejabai Bhosale Udyan, Mumbai
– [image: Gorakh Chinch (Marathi: गोरख चिंच)]<>…
Apr 21, 2007 near Porta do Mar (seaward entrance) of Bassein fort
– … more views:

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500 year old Baobab Tree in Bijapur, Karnataka: I took the pictures at sunset. So couldn’t do any justice. But was happy to see the tree behind Ibrahim Roza

Look at this article:

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