The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Adansonia digitata
Also called Baobab, Baobab Tree, Dead Rat Tree, Monkey Bread Tree, Africa's Upside Down, Boabab, Cream Of Tartar Tree
In Singapore: Baobab, Dead Rat Tree, Monkey Bread, Cream of Tartar Tree, Ethiopian Sour Gourd, Upside-down Tree (Grown in Singapore)
1 NParks heritage tree in Singapore: Found in Singapore Botanic Gardens, Melati Gate, near Cluny Pk Rd
A huge, long-lived savanna tree from Africa with a very thick trunk and leaves that drop in the dry season. It is grown in hot, dry climates and is rarely kept as a houseplant.
Adansonia digitata, the African baobab, is the most widespread tree species of the genus Adansonia, the baobabs, and is native to the African continent and the southern Arabian Peninsula (Yemen, Oman). These are long-lived pachycauls; radiocarbon dating has shown at least one individual to be 1,275 years old. They are typically found in dry, hot savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, where they dominate the landscape and reveal the presence of a watercourse from afar. They have traditionally been valued as sources of food, water, health remedies or places of shelter and are a key food source for many animals. They are steeped in legend and superstition. In recent years, many of the largest, oldest trees have died, for unknown reasons. Other common names for the baobab include monkey-bread tree, upside-down tree, and cream of tartar tree.
The African baobab is associated with tropical savannas. It is found in drier climates, is sensitive to water logging and frost and is not found in areas where sand is deep. It is native to mainland Africa, between the latitudes 16° N and 26° S. Some references consider it as introduced to Yemen and Oman while others consider it native there. The tree has also been introduced to many other regions including Australia and Asia.
People have traditionally valued the trees as sources of food, water, health remedies or places of shelter. The baobab is a traditional food plant in Africa, but is little-known elsewhere. Adanson concluded that the baobab, of all the trees he studied, "is probably the most useful tree in all". He consumed baobab juice twice a day while in Africa, and was convinced that it maintained his health. According to a modern field guide, the juice can help cure diarrhoea.
Grandidier's Baobab · Boab · Baobab · Baobab · Baobab · Baobab
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Adansonia digitata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
