BAOBAB OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 37 



tree, witli broad, oval, firm leaves. It emits aerial roots from 

 the branches, which descend like ropes, entering firmly into the 

 ground, according to age thickening and becoming like pillars, 

 the branches continuing to extend and cover a vast space 

 of ground. A tree growing on the bank of the Nerbuddah in 

 India covers an almost incredible area, of which the circum- 

 ference now remaining (for much has been swept away by the 

 floods of that river) is nearly 2000 feet. The overhanging 

 branches which have not yet thrown down their props or sup- 

 ports stretch over a much larger space. The whole is said to 

 be capable of sheltering 7000 men. 



Baobab, or Monkey Bread, also called "Sour Gourd" 

 (Adansonia digitata), a remarkable tree of the Silk Cotton section 

 of the Mallow family (Malvaceae), native of most parts of Africa, 

 from east to west. It grows to the height of about 40 feet, but its 

 girth is entirely out of proportion to its height, some trees being 

 30 feet in diameter, becoming contracted towards the top. An 

 old Baobab is said to be more like a forest than a single tree. 

 The head consists of numerous large spreading branches, densely 

 furnished with foliage, the centre one rising perpendicularly to 

 the height of 60 to 70 feet, the others spreading all round, formmg 

 a spherical head 100 to 150 feet in diameter, and others again 

 drooping and hiding the main trunk. The wood is soft and 

 spongy ; the negroes cut out chambers in the sides of the trees, 

 in which they suspend the dead bodies of those not entitled to 

 their religious rite of burial. With regard to the age of large 

 Baobabs, Humboldt considers them and the Dragon tree of 

 Orotava " the oldest living organic monuments of our planet." 

 The traveller Adanson, who first brought them into special 

 notice, saw trees with dates cut in them of the fourteenth century, 

 and calculated them to be upwards of 5000 years old. In some 

 trees the centres are hollowed ou.t sufficiently to contain 20 to 30 

 men, and the health of the tree remains unimpaired. The bark 

 is made into ropes and cloth by the natives. It is stripped off 

 from different parts of the tree as high as they can reach, and it 

 again forms, and the operation being repeated the upper part of 



