Australian Boab

Adansonia gregorii

“Africa's baobab made it to Australia. Shorter, fatter, tougher.”

Millions of years ago, a baobab seed crossed the Indian Ocean from Africa to Western Australia. The result — shorter, stockier, with a swollen bottle trunk — now defines the Kimberley region. Aboriginal Australians ate the fruit, used the bark for cordage, and sheltered in hollow trunks. It handles heat and drought that would kill most trees. Zone 10–11. An entire continent's backstory in one tree.