African Baobabs of the Limpopo Province

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Abstract

African baobab is an extremely unpretentious tree with many useful properties. Its various parts are eaten, used in medicine, and in the manufacture of household products. Baobabs are of great importance to people living in dry areas. What are the reasons for baobabs to withstand extreme droughts, grow in unfavorable soils, quickly recover from damage, and live up to 2 thousand years or more? The answer to these questions lies in the tree’s internal structure: new “stems” appear inside the baobab as it grows. This phenomenon is observed only in trees of the genus Adansonia. In order to understand how the structure of the baobab changes with its age and how this aff ects its growth and life expectancy, we went to the northeast of the Republic of South Africa, to the Limpopo province, where the range of the African baobab begins.

About the authors

D. V Semikolennykh

School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand

Email: dasha.semikolennykh@gmail.com
Johannesburg, South Africa

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