The Australian boab tree (Adansonia gregorii) is related to the African Adansonia species known as baobabs. It is found only in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia and east into the Northern Territory. It is the only baobab to grow in Australia, the others being native to Madagascar and mainland Africa.
Every boab tree is unique and some are as much as 1,500 years old. They are not exceptionally tall, up to about 15 metres, but they have a huge swollen trunk with a girth of up to 20 metres. I took these photos while we were visiting the town of Broome.
There are several theories about how boab trees arrived in Australia. One suggests that the seeds floated here from Africa and spread from the coast, another says that they were brought by people.
A theory that boabs might have survived from the time when Africa and Australia formed part of the ancient continent of Gondwana has been discredited, because Africa separated from Gondwana too long ago (about 80 million years).
