quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Lots of interesting things about those trees. Not least amongst 'em the fact that one about 12 metres in circumference is said to be about 4 thousand years old.

They also can swell or shink by something like a metre depending on dryness of the season etc.

Elephants love to eat the fruit and bark and if you take a close look at the bark of one, you can usually see old Elephant damage up to the height an Elephant can reach and after that, the tree has repaired itself and is smooth.

Fruits are edible and very refreshing and have a high vitamin content and are a good source for that damn stuff they use in baking but the name escapes me for the moment.

Also you don't see many young baobobs. One theory is that they don't germinate easily and because of that, the best germination occurs after the seeds have passed through an Elephant. If you look carefully, (it's easier from a light aircraft) you can often see lines of 'em that follow the contours of the ground, which would support the Elephant theory. As the animal strolled along, taking the natural path of least resistence, he defecates as he goes and that's where the trees germinate and grow.

I have to say, although it's an interesting picture, I'm not a fan of carving things in trees and if I caught kids doing it, esp to a baobob, I'd be inclined to knock the little bastards heads together. Maybe that makes me a crusty old bugger, but that's how I feel about it. I guess when these were done, both times and attitudes were different though.

Oh yes, and they're one of my two most favourite trees in the bush. The other being the fever tree. FWIW, I have 7 fever trees in the garden and a baobob on the stoep. (The baobob's only about a foot high though!

Hope all that waffle helps or at least is of interest.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Dave,

I'm sure it's not just Elephants that help the germination rate but am sure they need help. We tried to grow some from seed and couldn't get any results until we tried various ways of splitting that tough outer skin the seed have. Best results were to dip 'em in hot water and then slit the skin with a knife.

I've just remembered the oil is also used for something....... women's beauty treatment rings a bell but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Just remembered that the leaf is also edible and as well as being high in Vit C it's also supposed to be high in calcium.

quote:

Originally posted by David Hulme:
I met a scientist fellow a few years ago who was involved in studying the medicinal properties of the baobab. Doing cancer research if I remember correctly....

quote:

Originally posted by Kamo Gari:
Interesting to me that the faces, if they were in fact carved so long ago, are still at such a low height. Reason I say this is because as a kid we used to climb beech trees, and used to with some amazement see carvings some 50 feet up the tree, far higher than where we could climb. Some of the grafitti you could make out, just barely though, with the strecthing and growth of the tree. One I remember had initials and the year 1917 on it. Maybe boababs tend to grow out over time, rather than up. In any event, great tree and cool pic.

quote:

the ones at my knees were probably done recently by children.

quote:

Originally posted by Kamo Gari:
Interesting to me that the faces, if they were in fact carved so long ago, are still at such a low height. Reason I say this is because as a kid we used to climb beech trees, and used to with some amazement see carvings some 50 feet up the tree, far higher than where we could climb. Some of the grafitti you could make out, just barely though, with the strecthing and growth of the tree. One I remember had initials and the year 1917 on it. Maybe boababs tend to grow out over time, rather than up. In any event, great tree and cool pic.

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