Baobabs are sometimes called “upside-down trees”, because their branches look like roots reaching skywards. Of the eight species of baobab in the world, six are confined to Madagascar, one to northern Australia and one species, Adansonia digitata, is found across the savannah regions of continental Africa.
They’re more than striking trees; they are cornerstones of African ecosystems and livelihoods. They provide fruit, fibre, medicine and shelter for both people and wildlife. But it’s their night-blooming flowers and partnership with tiny nocturnal visitors, like bats and moths, that hold the secrets of their evolution and future survival.
Baobabs have huge white flowers that are visited at night by bats and moths to drink their sweet-tasting nectar. While feeding on the nectar, the flower covers its nocturnal visitors with pollen which they carry to the next flower they visit. This transfers pollen from the male part (anther) of one flower to the female part (stigma) of the next flower.
