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'''The Baobab tree grows in different areas of Madagascar and comes in many shapes and sizes. Out of nine existing species in the world, six exist only on in Madagascar, making the baobab tree symbolic to the country. The Baobab tree and its fruits have many uses from medicinal and spiritual to practical and nutritional.'''
[[File:Morondava_0030.jpg|600px]]
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The dry powder from the fruits are is used to produce delicious and nutritious drinks, while the seeds are used to produce cooking and massage oils.
[[File:Baobab_011.jpg|600px]]
The Baobab name originates from the Arabic phrase ''bu hibab'' meaning fruit with many seeds. The fruit can contain several hundred seeds. Baobab belong to the Bombacaceae family of trees which includes the [https://youtube.com/shorts/L4JhU2um4dE?si=gHpB9ZD6ZhPnQHyG Kapok tree].
The first botanical description of the baobab was made by French botanist Michel Adanson and a species was
later named Adansonia. The sixth and the last Malagasy species was discovered and described in 1960.
Baobabs are found in dry and semi-arid areas which receive less than
sometimes gives them astonishing forms.
The fruit contain contains a dry
and chalky pulp with many
nutritional qualities. Pulp,
which when mixed with water and
sugar, makes a refreshing and
vitamin-rich drink.
[[File:Baobab_004.jpg|600px]]
In the South, women prepare beauty masks from the bark.
On the Mahafaly plateau, the trunk is
a particularly dry environment.
For the [[Sakalava ]] ethnic group, the
baobab is sacred. The species (A.
grandidieri) is called "reniala", meaning
The Sakalava associate the
baobab 's wild nature and feminine symbolism.
Sacred baobabs are places of worship dedicated to women
which take place at their foot, focus
on the fertility of women, the
good health of children andthe
fertility of the land, particularly
during a symbolic ritual called
A Malagasy legend says that Imbelo, the first man,
created the woman by carving her from baobab wood. Many
other legends are dedicated to baobab.
to the ground.
Baobab fruit seeds are bean -shaped.Their size and color colour vary depending on the
species.
Almost all parts of the tree are used, with the exception of except the
trunk. The fruits are picked
from the ground or from the tree several
tens of meters high using
rudimentary ladders.
There are numerous sites for observing
baobabs. The most famous of
them is the[[Baobab Aavenue Avenue]] 20 kilometers north of[[Morondava]].
to a baobab that measures
22 meters in circumference. It is
represented on the city's coat
of arms and is one of its
main todurist tourist attractions.
In Madagascar, many natural
access.
The [[Mikea]], an ethnic
group from the southwest of Madagascar, use Baobab wood
to make coffins.
In the bay of [[Diego-Suarez]], several baobabs baobab species gathered
on an islet serve as graves for stillborn children. Their
bodies wrapped in shrouds are abandoned in
