Baobab Flower

Did you know

• The huge white baobab flowers open at dusk and last only a single night—they're pollinated exclusively by fruit bats that hover beneath them in the African darkness.
• Baobabs are among the oldest living things on Earth—some specimens in Senegal and Madagascar are over 2,500 years old, making them older than the Roman Empire.
• The flowers smell faintly of carrion to attract bats—not pleasant to humans up close, but the smell carries for miles across the savanna in evening air.
• After the flower fades, the famous baobab fruit develops—a velvet-shelled pod containing dry, tangy white flesh rich in vitamin C, called 'monkey bread' or 'cream of tartar fruit.'
• African legend says God planted the baobab upside down with its roots in the air—the tree's bare-branched silhouette in the dry season looks exactly like a great upturned root system.

Color meanings

Uses

• Cultural symbol
• Edible fruit
• Wildlife habitat
• Iconic landscape tree