The Remarkable Baobab

First Edition

Orion Books / Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2004).

Hardcover Book with Dust Jacket

Text from the Front Flap

Baobabs were first noted by 18th-century explorers for their extraordinary size and girth and for their bizarre appearance with what appears to be a tangle of roots sprouting from a bulbous trunk. Even today they continue to baffle botanists. The most magnificent specimens are reputed to be very ancient, possibly 1,000 years old, but no one can be certain because when they reach a great age they become hollow. And there are accounts of spontaneous combustion – trees mysteriously burst into flame.

In the countries where they are found they are associated with many myths and legends. This is the tree which many African peoples believe to be the home of their ancestral spirits. In the creation myth in which each animal receives its own tree from the Great Spirit, it was originally given to the hyena who threw the gift down in disgust. It landed the wrong way up and so it became the 'upside down tree' with its roots sticking up like branches.

The tree of the hyena spawned seven species. Five are found only in Madagascar. One is found in both Madagascar and twenty countries of Africa and the last is a native of Australia. A few specimens have been transplanted elsewhere (notably to the West Indies) but otherwise they are found nowhere else in the world. The most famous and most photographed accumulation of trees – possibly 100 in all – is to be found outside Morondava in Madagascar, the famous Avenue of the Baobabs, justly celebrated at length in this book.

Thomas Packenham, the best-selling chronicler of remarkable trees has long harboured a grand passion for these extraordinary trees. Here in this volume this passion is finally given full rein.

About the Author (from the Back Flap)

Thomas Packenham is the author of two best-selling and internationally acclaimed books on trees, Meetings With Remarkable Trees and Remarkable Trees of the World. He lives in County Westmeath, Ireland, with a growing collection of trees raised from seeds collected on his expeditions around the world, and is chairman of the Irish Tree Society. Apart from a passion for trees he has written many books on Irish and African history. The Scramble for Africa won the W. H. Smith Award and the Alan Paton Award. He is the author of The Mountains of Rasselas, The Boer War and The Year of Liberty.

Introduction: The Wooden Elephant
They Sailed from Here: Baobabs of Madagascar
The Upside Down Tree: Baobabs of Africa
Wizards of Oz: Baobs of Australia
In Captivity: Baobabs of the Caribbean
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Distribution of Baobabs
Index
Illustration Credits

Notes

The copy on the dust jacket front flap erroneously states that there are seven baobabs species in total, five of which are endemic to Madagascar. In fact there are eight, of which six are Malagasy natives, as the book itself correctly asserts.