Image: This agricultural scene is highly renowned, originating from the tomb chamber of Sennedjem dated to around 1200 BCE, depicting ancient Egyptian farming practices.
Africa has its own agriculture and has domesticated many crops still cultivated today. However, many regions in Africa indeed lead very primitive lifestyles.
This might be attributed to climatic conditions and the distribution of natural resources.
Some regions of Africa have abundant natural resources, so they didn't see the need to develop agriculture.
There's a documentary about the Hazda people of Africa, considered the world's last hunter-gatherer tribe. They find it hard to understand why modern people choose to cultivate crops.
The ancestral home of the Hazza people in Africa, Idd ninga
They believe that spending some time every day can provide enough food for the entire family, which makes sense since waiting for months to harvest crops for food is quite impractical.
There is a plant closely intertwined with the lives of the Hazza people, one of the key factors enabling their hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and that plant is the baobab tree.
For some indigenous Africans, the baobab tree is their "tree of life," upon which they depend for shelter, food, water, and even spiritual reverence.
Today, we'll delve into the baobab tree, exploring its unique characteristics and why it's hailed as the "tree of life" in Africa.
Image: These authors are all spreading rumors, and there are hundreds of similar rumor-spreading content online.
Before continuing the discussion, let's debunk a widely circulated rumor about the baobab tree, which is that many authors are spreading the claim that this tree can live for 5000 years.
Actually, the baobab tree is an angiosperm, and angiosperms typically adapt to rapid growth and seed dispersal compared to those slow-growing gymnosperms. Typically, the lifespan of angiosperms is shorter than those slow-growing gymnosperms.
There are indeed gymnosperms that live over 5000 years, but no angiosperm has such a long lifespan.
The baobab tree is indeed the longest-lived known angiosperm, and the most convincing data on its maximum lifespan to date is 2450 years, from the "Pancake" baobab tree in Zimbabwe, which died in 2011.
The age of baobab trees is extremely difficult to measure because their growth rings do not form annually like those of other trees. In favorable climate conditions, they can produce several growth rings in a year, while in unfavorable conditions, several years may pass without a growth ring.
Image: Baobab Tree, Able to Accommodate 40 People Inside Its Hollow Trunk
Currently, the age of these trees is determined through radiocarbon dating. Previously, an ancient baobab tree was believed to be 6000 years old, a figure determined by a team of chemists in 2009 using undisclosed methods. However, subsequent evidence showed the tree to be only around 1100 years old.
One heavily exaggerated baobab tree, known as the "Sunland" baobab in South Africa, was transformed into a popular baobab tree bar, likely contributing to its exaggerated publicity.
A distinctive feature of baobab trees is their continuous growth of new stems that wrap around old ones, which is the main reason for their longevity.
However, the older stems inside eventually wither and die, leaving the longer-living baobab trees hollow. This provides habitat for many animals.
The Sunland Baobab Bar, Image Source: Sunland Baobab/facebook
The trunk of a baobab tree can grow to be incredibly massive, with the girth often surpassing the height. Take, for example, the Sunland Baobab Bar, a baobab tree transformed into a bar. While its height is only around 22 meters, its trunk's circumference stretches to an impressive 47 meters—more than twice the height of the tree itself.
Given the immense size of the Sunland Baobab, its interior space after conversion into a bar is also vast. It can accommodate seating for 15 people, complete with music equipment and a wine cellar. Additionally, its "ceiling" reaches a height of 4 meters.
Inside the bar, Image Source: Sunland Baobab / Facebook
The operators of the Sunland Baobab Bar were Heather and Doug Van Heerden, who cleared out the hollow interior of this baobab tree in 1993 and transformed it into a bar. However, in March 2019, the bar announced permanent closure.
Less than a year after the bar closed, this ancient baobab tree died.
At the Baobab Bar's social media, we can see its past promotions and some photos.
In fact, across Africa, there aren't many baobab trees like Sanlan, which can reach up to 1100 years old. However, there are quite a few smaller baobabs that can still accommodate an entire indigenous African family.
For some indigenous Africans, the baobab tree is like an ancestral home—a place where generations of families have lived. This is one of the important roles played by baobab trees.
Most importantly, this ancestral home also provides food and a rare source of water.
The baobab has a peculiar appearance, with a greatly swollen trunk due to its ability to store large amounts of water.
Baobabs thrive in arid regions of Africa, where water is scarce during the dry season. Therefore, they have evolved the ability to store large amounts of water during the rainy season.
The stems have a sponge-like structure, which allows them to absorb and retain water well—each tree can hold over 10 tons of water for use during the dry season.
This feature makes them crucial in Africa, where many animals, including humans, rely on baobabs for water.
In fact, to cope with the dry season, baobabs have several unique adaptations. In Africa, they have leaves for only up to four months a year, remaining bare the rest of the time to minimize water loss.
However, when they do grow leaves, these become green vegetables for indigenous Africans to harvest and consume.
Baobabs also have an intriguing flowering period. They bloom in the evening and complete pollination within 24 hours, emitting a scent reminiscent of rotting flesh before wilting. This may be related to the long dry season, requiring them to swiftly reproduce.
The fruit of the monkey bread tree is also quite nutritious. It is believed that they are called "monkey bread" because when the fruits ripen, they attract monkeys and baboons to feed on them, and Africans cook them like bread.
Overall, for some indigenous Africans, the monkey bread tree serves as a homestead throughout the year, a water source during the dry season, and a source of vegetables and fruits during the rainy season. Therefore, the title of "Tree of Life" is well-deserved.
Many people might wonder if such an intriguing plant has been introduced and cultivated in China.
Indeed, China started planting Baobab trees as early as the beginning of the country's establishment, with plantations now found in Hainan, Fujian, Guangdong, and other regions.
However, the Baobab trees grown in China exhibit some differences from those in Africa. Their "physique" is notably different—Chinese Baobabs lack the swollen trunk characteristic of their African counterparts. They resemble ordinary trees more and don't tend to bear fruit as prolifically. In fact, reports of Baobab fruiting in places like the Xiamen Botanical Garden in Fujian were rare and attracted considerable attention.
It is believed that the Baobab tree, originally planted in Hainan, China, started flowering and fruiting as early as its second year but then gradually declined. Experts attribute this decline to the abundant rainfall in China, which differs from the drier conditions in Africa where the Baobab tree naturally thrives. While the temperature in China may be suitable for its growth, excessive rainfall leads to shrinkage and poor growth.
Image: This is an ordinary baobab tree growing in China.
Today, baobab trees are quite widespread in China, with many places cultivating them, although we might not always recognize them.
Over the centuries, indigenous Africans have learned to coexist harmoniously with the majestic baobab trees, flourishing by utilizing their various benefits without depleting them.
However, these trees are now facing a severe survival crisis. Over the past decade, nine out of the thirteen oldest and largest baobab trees in Africa have died, not including the previously mentioned Sanlan baobab.
Experts speculate that this may be related to climate change, with extreme temperatures killing off these vulnerable long-lived individuals.
