Curious Kimberley: Scientists disagree how boab trees got to Australia from Africa and Madagascar

[Judi Lynn]

ABC Kimberley By Ben Collins
Posted 55 minutes ago



PHOTO: Boabs are a striking tree that grow in many parts of the Kimberley and a small area of the Top End.
(Supplied: Kevin Smith)


They are striking, fat-trunked trees unique to parts of the Kimberley and a small section of the Top End, but two scientists studying how they came from Africa or Madagascar have widely different explanations.

If you've ever seen a boab tree you don't need to be a botanist to realise something strange is going on.

Their trunks are swollen and wrinkly — as if someone has planted an elephant which has sprouted into a tree.

They are so unlike any other Australian tree that you can't help but wonder where they came from.

More:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-07/boabs-come-africa-baobabs-evolution/10060946

For anyone who can't get enough Boab trees, please see far more images here:
https://tinyurl.com/yap56w7m






Hooray for Boabs.

[royable]

1. Reminds me of the boojum tree of the Sonoran Desert

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-cactus-baja-mexico-weird-looking-boojum-tree-sonoran-desert-california-image72272346]
https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g31310-d109186-i98349454-Desert_Botanical_Garden-Phoenix_Arizona.html]

though I'm sure they're not genetically connected. Parallel evolution and all that.

[Judi Lynn]

2. My goodness! How wonderful. Had to go look for one with leaves, am astonished!

Never knew these trees exist until now. So cool!

Here's their google images page:

https://tinyurl.com/y82foky5



Just one shape they can take.





Now the similarity really shows!

Thank you for introducing these desert critters. I've got to see as many of them as I can. They are spectacular.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Hmmmm ... boab seems to be the preferred term in Oz, but baobab elsewhere ?

I had always heard baobab.

[Judi Lynn]

4. That startled me. Had never seen that name for "baobab." Unexpected. n/t

[procon]

5. Those are some very alien looking trees.

I've seen them at a couple of the big arboretums in the Los Angeles area. Every once in a while I'll spot one in someone's yard, one was shaped like a squat, giant onion.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Wow. A tree like that would clearly cause a lot of double-takes! They do look totally alien. n/t