Although I have written about the African baobab, it was Pat Lowe who, in January 2000, persuaded me that we should pool our knowledge and experiences and write a book on all eight species of this outstanding genus. Later I worked in the former Rhodesias (now Zambia and Zimbabwe) and in the Sudan, and was able to further my studies. I first became acquainted with the African baobab in 1952 while working in what was then Sokoto Province, Northern Nigeria. European knowledge of the African baobab dates back to Renaissance times. Old specimens display highly individual, photogenic characteristics which endear them to local people, artists and photographers.
With their enormous size, distinctive and often grotesque appearance, and great age (measured perhaps in thousands of years), baobab trees attract the attention of botanists, amateurs, tourists and passers-by wherever they grow. (Ernestine Hill 1940)Īlthough Alexander von Humboldt never saw a baobab, he wrote: ‘Among organic creatures, this tree is undoubtedly, together with the Adansonia or baobab of Senegal, one of the oldest inhabitants of our planet’ (Humboldt 1852). In all nature there is no ally so kindly, with the possible exception of the coconut palm. Food for his hunger, water for his thirst, a house to live in, fibre to clothe him, fodder for his flocks, a pot of beer, a rope to hang him, and a tombstone when he is dead – these are the provisions of the baobab for man. Printed on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Ī Caliban of a tree, a grizzled, distorted old goblin with a girth of a giant, the hide of a rhinoceros, twiggy fingers clutching at empty air, and the disposition of a guardian angel – such is Kimberlley’ baobab, friendly ogre of the great North-west. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Library of Congress Control Number: 2007936305 © 2008 Springer Science + Business Media, B.V. Retired Head of Economic Botany Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK
The Baobabs: Pachycauls of Africa, Madagascar and Australia
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