The Life of the Wise Baobab Tree • by Sibelle Age 8

Wisdom is like a Baobab tree. No one individual can embrace it. -Akan proverb

Have you ever tried the baobab fruit? I have. It's delicious! It tastes sweet and sour like green apples and and comes from the baobab tree. Baobabs can be found in the African savanna, India, and Australia.

The Baobab only has leaves for three months out of the year.

The baobab lives in hot, dry regions near the equator. The trees that live near salty water have short and stubby trunks. The baobab tree is chubby because it stores enormous amounts of water.

Many animals depend on the baobab tree. It is home to animals like bush babies, owls, and many different types of birds. Fruit bats also use the baobab tree. They help produce the white flowers on the tree by drinking their nectar.

Animals also use the baobab even if they don't live in it. Elephants rip off the baobab's bark because the baobab tree stores enormous amounts of water and the tree provides water for them.

The baobab is the largest and oldest living angiosperm, a flowering plant, in tropical Africa. The baobab tree can live between hundreds and thousands years old. The tree grows thicker as it gets older. The oldest baobab tree can be found in South Africa and is about 6,000 years old.

It's hard to tell exactly how old the baobab tree is because they don't have tree rings. Baobab trees don't grow tree rings because they grow more than one tree trunk. Then, they stick together and form a circle which leaves it empty in the middle. Many of big baobabs are passing away in the 21st century and scientists don't know why.

The baobab tree has many nicknames including, "The Upside-Down Tree, The Tree Pro, and The Green Giant."

Trees are alive like humans. They breathe and they help us breathe. We can't live without them.

Works Cited (Learn more here)

https://www.africasgiants.org/natures-giants-news/barking-up-the-right-tree-meet-the-baobab

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sunland-baobab

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05411-7

https://balconygardenweb.com/how-to-grow-a-baobab-tree-everything-about-baobab/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gtQRO9K7Us Growing baobab time lapse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUkyq8CL2Ko How to grow baobab from seeds https://www.elephantsanctuary.co.za/blog/148-why-elephants-love-baobab-and-spekboom-trees