fruits & vegetables :: EXOTIC, GARDEN :: Malvaceae s. l. ~ Bombacaceae » Adansonia digitata

[Dinesh Valke]

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


commonly known as: 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


Native to: northeastern, central and southern Africa


Edible use:

... leaves can be eaten as relish, while the fruit dissolved in milk or water can be used as a drink

... traditional food plant in Africa, but is little-known elsewhere

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