Baobab Adansonia is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs (/ˈbaʊbæb/ or /ˈbeɪoʊbæb/). The eight species of Adansonia are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barbados, where several of the baobabs there are suspected to have originated from Africa. Other baobabs have been introduced to Asia. A genomic and ecological analysis further suggests that the genus itself originated from Madagascar. The generic name Adansonia honours Michel Adanson, the French naturalist and explorer who provided the first detailed botanical description and illustrations of Adansonia digitata. The baobab, however, is also known as the "upside down tree," a name attributable to the trees' overall appearance and historical myths. Baobabs are among the longest-lived of vascular plants and have large flowers that are reproductive for a maximum of 15 hours. The flowers open around dusk with sufficiently rapid movement that is detectable by the naked eye. The fruits are large, oval to round and berry-like, and hold kidney-shaped seeds in a dry, pulpy matrix. In the early 21st century, baobabs in southern Africa began to die off rapidly and mysteriously—the cause is yet to be determined. Blight or pests are unlikely to have caused such rapid death, so some have speculated that the cause may have been mass dehydration. Description Adansonia digitata (African baobab) tree in Mikumi National Park with its fruits hanging Baobabs are long-lived deciduous, small to large trees from 5 to 30 m (20 to 100 ft) tall with broad trunks and compact crowns. Young trees usually have slender, tapering trunks, often with a swollen base. Mature trees have massive trunks that are bottle-shaped or cylindrical and tapered from bottom to top. The trunk is made of fibrous wood arranged in concentric rings, although rings are not always formed annually and so cannot be used to determine the age of individual trees. Tree diameter fluctuates with rainfall so it is thought that water may be stored in the trunk. Baobab trees have two types of shoots—long, green vegetative ones, and stout, woody reproductive ones. Branches can be massive and spread out horizontally from the trunk or are ascending. Adansonia gregorii is generally the smallest of the baobabs, rarely getting to over 10 m (33 ft) tall and often with multiple trunks. Both A. rubrostipa and A. madagascariensis are small to large trees, from 5 to 20 m (16 to 66 ft) tall.[10] The other baobabs grow from 25 to 30 m (80 to 100 ft) tall, with 2 to 3 m (7 to 10 ft) diameter trunks. A. digitata, however, often has massive single or multiple trunks of up to 10 m (33 ft) diameter. Leaves are palmately compound in mature trees, but seedlings and regenerating shoots may have simple leaves. The transition to compound leaves comes with age and may be gradual. Leaves have 5–11 leaflets, with the largest ones in the middle and may be stalkless or with short petioles. Leaflets may have toothed or smooth edges, and may be hairless or have simple-to-clumped hairs. Baobabs have stipules at the base of the leaves, but the stipules are soon shed in most species. Baobabs are deciduous, shedding leaves during the dry season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbKPFWtJ9iY
Inside Madagascar's Most Mysterious Forest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9yqDzXdBL8
Baobab: The World’s Largest Flowering Plant | The Upside Down Tree | Full Documentary