Also called Australian baobab, gadawon, dead rat-, gouty stem- and bottle tree, Australian boab tree is a medium-sized tree that have a trunk that looks like a bottle. Adansonia gregorii is the only species found in Australia, while in Africa and Madagascar there are another seven species of “bottle trees”. Here is some information about its adaptations, leaves, fruits, flowers and habitat.
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Baobab Tree Adaptations The parts of Australia, Africa and Madagascar where this tree is found, are all relatively dry, at least during one season of the year. During the dry season, these trees drop their leaves, and grow new leaves in the beginning of wet season again.
Bark, Leaves, Flowers and Fruits It has got a brown smooth bark, which turns grey in older trees. It has got alternate, palmate leaves with leaflets radiating from the end of the leaf stalk. The leaves are dark green above and pale below, with soft hair on the underside. It has got creamy white flowers, about 10cm long, which appear most of the year, but the best time to see them is in the spring while the tree is still leafless. The fruits are black or dark brown, about 20cm long and they ripe in late summer and early autumn.
Bottle Tree Habitat In Australia, the Boab Tree is found in parts of Kimberley in northern parts of Western Australia; and in the north-eastern parts of Northern Territory. It lives on rocky outcrops in open woodlands, and as you drive through those areas, there are plenty of bottle trees right next to the main roads.
Where Else to See Bottle Tree You can occasionally see them in other parts of Australia, where they have been planted to parks and botanical gardens, but sometimes even to the wild nature. The two young specimens on the previous photo above are in Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
