Baobab Trees in Madagascar

February 08, 2018

Baobob_Mada1%20Oct24_2017

Photographer: Carmen Morosan 
Summary Authors: Carmen Morosan; Jim Foster

Shown above is an impressive baobab promenade in Madagascar. These baobab trees (Adansonia digitata), some of them up to 800 years old, with their bulbous trunks and relatively small root-shaped crowns, are among the biggest succulents on the planet. Deciduous, they typically shed their leaves in April and May -- the start of the dry season in Madagascar. The biggest baobabs can hold 30,000 gallons of water or more, helping them to survive the limited and unreliable rainfalls characteristic of their semiarid habitats. A hollowed out trunk of a huge baobab in South Africa is said to be able to accommodate 60 people and even a bar. Photo taken at the end of the dry season in late October of 2017.

Photo Details: Camera: SONY DSC-RX100M2; Exposure Time: 0.0025s (1/400); Aperture: ƒ/5.6; ISO equivalent: 160; Focal Length (35mm): 28; Software: Windows Photo Editor 10.