[8] The fruits are large, oval to round and berry-like and hold kidney-shaped seeds in a dry, pulpy matrix.

[9][10] Baobabs are long-lived deciduous, small to large trees from 5 to 30 m (20 to 100 ft) tall[8] with broad trunks and compact crowns.

[8] In most Adansonia species, the flowers are borne on short erect or spreading stalks in the axils of the leaves near the tips of reproductive shoots.

[12] Flowers may remain attached to the trees for several days, but the reproductive phase is very short, with pollen shed during the first night and stigmas shriveled by the morning.

A densely hairy ovary is enclosed in the staminal tube, and a long style tipped with a stigma emerges from the filaments.

The flowers, when fresh, may be white, cream, bright yellow or dark red, but fade quickly, often turning reddish when dried.

[8] The first botanical description was in the De medicina Aegyptiorum by Prospero Alpini (1592), looking at fruits that he observed in Egypt from an unknown source.

Linnaeus later renamed the genus Adansonia, to honour Adanson, but use of baobab as one of the common names has persisted.

A new species (Adansonia kilima Pettigrew, et al.), was described in 2012, found in high-elevation sites in eastern and southern Africa.

Some high-elevation trees in Tanzania show different genetics and morphology, but further study is needed to determine if recognition of them as a separate species is warranted.

[15] The lineage leading to Adansonia was found to have diverged from its closest relatives in Bombacoideae like Ceiba /Chorisia at the end of the Eocene, during a time of abrupt global climate cooling and drying, while a divergence of this Adansonia+Ceiba /Chorisia clade from Pachira was found to be more ancient, dating to the middle Eocene.

Within that biome, Adansonia madagascariensis and A. rubrostipa occur specifically in the Anjajavy Forest, sometimes growing out of the tsingy limestone itself.

The locals call it "Gongolaze" and use its fruits as food and medicine and use the tree trunks as reservoirs to save water.

[citation needed] Baobabs store water in the trunk (up to 120,000 litres or 32,000 US gallons) to endure harsh drought conditions.

Across Africa, the oldest and largest baobabs began to die in the early 21st century, likely from a combination of drought and rising temperatures.

[27] One called Grandmother is made up of three fused trunks of different ages, with the oldest part of the tree an estimated 1,600 years old.

[citation needed] The dried fruit powder of A. digitata, baobab powder, contains about 11% water, 80% carbohydrates (50% fiber),[32] and modest levels of various nutrients, including riboflavin, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and phytosterols, with low levels of protein and fats.

[31][33][34] Vitamin C content, described as variable in different samples, was in a range of 74 to 163 milligrams (1.14 to 2.52 gr) per 100 grams (3.5 oz) of dried powder.

[36] In Angola, the dry fruit of A. digitata is usually boiled, and the broth is used for juices or as the base for a type of ice cream known as gelado de múcua.

[citation needed] In Zimbabwe, the fruit of A. digitata is eaten fresh or the crushed crumbly pulp is stirred into porridge and drinks.

Indigenous Australians used the native species A. gregorii for several products, making string from the root fibers and decorative crafts from the fruits.

[43] An unusual baobab was the namesake of Kukawa, formerly the capital of the Bornu Empire southwest of Lake Chad in Central Africa.

In the novel The Little Prince, the titular character takes care to root out baobabs that try to grow on his tiny planet home.

The fearsome, grasping baobab trees, researchers have contended, were meant to represent Nazism attempting to destroy the planet.