Gardeners Tips

Baobab is a remarkable tree with striking appearance identified by it’s swollen trunk which stores water. Slow growing the tree is believed to live for centuries but has no aging rings in the trunk.

Key Features of the Baobab

• Latin name – Adansonia digitata Common names – Upside down tree, boab, dead-rat-tree, boaboa or bottle tree
• Height – 30-70 feet
• Type of tree – Deciduous
• Leaves – dark green glossy hand like leaves with 5-7 fingers
• Flowers – Solitary large scented white to cream
• Fruit – ovoid, brown, hairy capsules of black seeds
• Bark – Grey-brown and fibrous. No annual growth rings of trunk.
• Family – Malvaceae

Origins and Distribution of the Baobab

• Native to Madagascar and central Africa.
• The tree is adapted to arid conditions and is also found in India.

Uses and Attributes of the Baobab

• Fruit and leaves are edible. The seeds are used to thicken soup.
• Water is collected in the clefts of branches.
• The fibrous bark is used to make mats and fishing nets

Gardeners Tips for the Baobab

• The tree is able to survive bark ringing.
• The large white strongly scented flowers attract pollinating bats – alas not in my garden.
• Seeds are available to grow bonsai trees.

Other types of Baobab and key species

• There are 7-8 key species of Adansonia.
• Adansonia digitata L. – African Baobab, Adansonia grandidieri Grandidier’s Baobab, Adansonia gregorii Boab or Australian Baobab Adansonia madagascariensis– Madagascar Baobab Adansonia perrieri – Perrier’s Baobab Adansonia suarezensis Adansonia Za. – Za Baobab .

Baobab comments from elsewhere

• ‘The Baobab is called the Tree of Life with good reason. It is capable of providing shelter, food and water for the animal and human inhabitants of the African savannah regions.
  The cork-like bark is fire resistant and is used for cloth and rope. The leaves are used for condiments and medicines. The fruit, called “monkey bread”, is rich in vitamin C and is eaten. The tree is capable of storing hundreds of litres of water, which is tapped in dry periods.
  Mature trees are frequently hollow, providing living space for numerous animals and humans alike.There are also numerous superstitions amongst native African people regarding the powers of the tree. Anyone who dares to pick a flower, for instance, will be eaten by a lion. On the other hand, of you drank water in which the seeds have been soaked, you’d be safe from a crocodile attack.’ From Baobab solutions for more information

Credits
baobabs by asfd01 CC BY-NC 2.0
“Baobab by sociate CC BY-SA 2.0
Baobab Africain by dinesh_valke CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ‘The Baobab has long provided people with material for cloth, rope, soap, dye, glue, fodder, and medicine. In West Africa, the young nutritious leaves are cooked and eaten like spinach.’
Baobab Tree by K W Reinsch CC BY-NC 2.0

Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay Fig, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the Moraceae family. It shares the characteristics of most Fig trees.

Key Features of the Moreton Bay Fig

• Latin name – Ficus macrophylla other common names Strangler tree
• Height – a tall tree up to 150 feet high and often wider than high.
• Type of tree – Evergreen
• Leaves – Large, elliptical and leathery with dark green upper and rusty brown beneath.
• Flowers – Tiny flowers enclosed in a fig receptical
• Fruit – Fig ripening from green to purple
• Bark – Smooth grey-brown
• Family – Moraceae or Banyan

Origins and Distribution of the Moreton Bay Fig

• Native to Eastern Australia.
• It grows best in rainforest conditions.
• This fig is cultivated in Hawaii where the pollinating wasp was deliberatly introduced and in northern New Zealand.

Uses and Attributes of the Moreton Bay Fig

• A distinctive tree that has been cultivated to grow in parks and to grace avenues..
• The soft light timber is used for cases.
• Aborigines traditionally used the fibres for fishing nets.

Gardeners Root Tips for the Moreton Bay Fig

• The tree germinates at the top of a host tree and drops aerial roots down to the ground.
• It eventually kills the host tree by strangulation .
• The tree grows a magnificent crown that is supported by a butress of roots which spread around the tree matching the crown.
• The roots are surface feeding and water-hungry. When young it grows as an epiphyte
• As with other figs it is pollinated by a specific species of wasp

Moreton Bay Fig comments from elsewhere

• Named after Moreton bay in Queensland.
• They are very thirsty trees and can be very invasive of domestic drainage systems. Not to be recommended on a suburban quarter acre block! lane reality Australia

Credits
FICUS WATKINSIANA-MORETON BAY FIG by YAZMDG CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
19 Moreton Bay Fig Tree by The City Project CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Moreton Bay Fig Tree, Santa Barbara by FarOutFlora CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Moreton Bay Fig Tree by ~PrescottCC BY-NC 2.0

The common crab apple grows wild in hedgerows and woodlands of western Europe. It is also cultivated for the blossom and small crabapples.

Key Features of the Crab Apple

• Latin name – Malus sylvestris other common names include Wild apples, verjuice
• Height – 25-45 feet
• Type of tree – Deciduous –
• Leaves – Alternate, elliptical, toothed, dark glossy green.
• Flowers – Borne in clusters on short shoots. White tinged pink to deep red
• Fruit – Spherical green – yellowish- red pome or crabs up to 2 inch across. Crabapples are sour.
• Bark – Pale brown to grey when young, peeling flakes of grey brown as the tree matures
• Family – Rosaceae

Origins and Distribution of the Crab Apple

• Native to Europe.
• Used as an ornamental tree in temperate zones.

Uses and Attributes of the Crab Apple

• The hard, heavy, close grained wood was used to make clubs, handles and wedges.
• Crabapples are high in pectin and are used to make crabapple jelly.
• Traditionally the small yellow fruit were used to make ‘verjuice’ an acidic condiment.
• Crab Apple are used as root stock for grafting commercial apples.
• Crab apple trees make good pollinators for other apples in orchards.
• Apple wood is used in some smoking and burns with a sweet scent.

Gardeners Tips for the Crab Apple

• These ornamental trees are grown for their beautiful flowers and fruit.
• There are numerous cultivars most of which are good pollinators for apples and are known for their resistance to disease.
• Smaller crab apples like Evereste can be trained as cordons to make a multi-purpose wind break

Other types of Crab Apple and key species

• There are 30-40 species of Crab Apple in the genus.
• There are a large number of varieties and hybrids. Generally they have pinker flowers and larger fruit and have been selected for these reasons.
• ‘John Downie’ produce fruit that is large and tasty enough to eat fresh off the tree
• Malus sylvestris is the parent of orchard apple Malus domestica and several ornamental crabs.

Crab Apple comments from elsewhere

• The crab apple is the ancestor of the cultivated apple, over 6,000 varieties having been bred over the ages.
• For sheer flower power it’s hard to beat M. floribunda with red buds opening to pink then white blossom, followed by red and yellow fruit. A good choice where space is limited is Malus ‘Royal Beauty’, a weeping tree with reddish purple flowers, purple-bronze leaves and dark red fruit.
• Birds will feed on the fruit, particularly robins, starlings, greenfinches and thrushes and the colourful flowers will attract bees in spring. Additionally the native crab apple can be home to over 90 insect species. RSPB

Read about our series on British tree reviews with a bakers dozen fact sheets

Credits
Pink Crab Apple Blossoms by beautifulcataya CC BY-NC-ND 2.0