Orchids with aromas of fruits and exquisite perfumes. The largest trunk diameter is that of the baobab. Baobabs grow

Depending on the varietal group, the age of seedlings suitable for planting in open ground, is: for early tomatoes - 45-50 days, average ripening periods - 55-60 and late dates- at least 70 days. When planting tomato seedlings at a younger age, the period of its adaptation to new conditions is significantly extended. But success in obtaining a high-quality tomato harvest also depends on carefully following the basic rules for planting seedlings in open ground.

I love ornamental shrubs, especially unpretentious ones and with interesting, non-trivial foliage colors. I have various Japanese spirea, Thunberg barberries, black elderberry... And there is one special shrub, which I will talk about in this article - viburnum leaf. To fulfill my dream of a low-maintenance garden, it is perhaps ideal. At the same time, it is capable of greatly diversifying the picture in the garden, from spring to autumn.

It is no coincidence that June remains one of the favorite months of gardeners. The first harvest, new crops in the vacant spaces, rapid growth of plants - all this cannot but rejoice. But the main enemies of gardeners and garden bed dwellers – pests and weeds – also use every opportunity this month to spread. Work on crops this month is waning, and planting seedlings is reaching its peak. The lunar calendar in June is balanced for vegetables.

The June schedule of gardening work can surprise anyone with its richness. In June, even lawns and ponds require attention. Alone ornamental plants have already finished flowering and need pruning, others are just getting ready for the upcoming show. And sacrifice decorative garden in order to take better care of the ripening harvest is not the best idea. IN lunar calendar There will be time in June to plant new perennials and potted arrangements.

Cold pork leg terrine is a meat snack from the category of budget recipes, because pork legs are one of the cheapest parts of the carcass. Despite the modest ingredients, appearance dishes and their taste top level! Translated from French, this “game dish” is a cross between pate and casserole. Because in times technical progress There are fewer game hunters, terrine is more often prepared from meat livestock, fish, vegetables, and also make cold terrines.

In cute pots or fashionable florariums, on walls, tables and window sills - succulents can withstand weeks without watering. They do not change their character and do not accept conditions that are comfortable for most capricious people. indoor plants. And their diversity will allow everyone to find their favorite. Sometimes looking like stones, sometimes like fancy flowers, sometimes like extravagant sticks or lace, fashionable succulents have long been not limited only to cacti and fat plants.

Trifle with strawberries is a light dessert common in England, the USA and Scotland. I think this dish is prepared everywhere, just called differently. Trifle consists of 3-4 layers: fresh fruit or fruit jelly, biscuit cookies or sponge cake, whipped cream. Usually, custard is prepared as a layer, but for a light dessert they prefer to do without it; whipped cream is enough. This dessert is prepared in a deep transparent salad bowl so that the layers are visible.

Weeds are bad. They interfere with the growth of cultivated plants. Some wild herbs and shrubs are poisonous or can cause allergies. At the same time, many weeds can bring great benefits. They are used and how medicinal herbs, and as an excellent mulch or component of green fertilizer, and as a means of repelling harmful insects and rodents. But in order to properly fight or use this or that plant for good, it needs to be identified.

Once upon a time, while visiting, I saw and fell in love immediately and forever with this bush. Of course, for this I needed to see it in all its glory, namely at the moment of flowering. And now, when I am writing this article, the window outside inspires me Pink colour massive bush - weigela. It is named after a German scientist of the 18th–19th centuries. In those distant times, a scientist, as a rule, was a specialist in many fields at once - in botany, and in chemistry, and in pharmaceuticals.

Fish pie with pollock and fried potatoes- a dish for every day, which is prepared simply, although not as quickly as a sandwich. For this recipe, steam the pollock fillet and fry the potatoes in vegetable oil, so the number of calories in the dish will remain at an acceptable level. Cooking fish and potatoes won't take much time, then all you have to do is gather the ingredients, pour in a simple batter (like for pancakes) and wait for the oven to do its job.

The best option The formation of a grape bush is considered to be its formation on a trunk. This form allows you to give the greatest load to the plant, and therefore get the greatest harvest. It provides better heating of the vines, good ventilation, which makes the bushes less sick, and is also considered the most convenient to care for. However, it is suitable only for those areas where the temperature does not drop below minus 17 °C, and for certain varieties - minus 28 °C.

Among indoor shrubs, there are not many plants that are more famous for their flowering than for the beauty of their shoots. Lantana camara is one of these exotic beauties. Amazingly easily changing its growth form, lantana surprises not so much with its unpretentiousness as with the beauty of its extraordinary inflorescences. Soft transitions The colors give the dense shields a rainbow effect. And it’s hard to look away from the blooming, feminine, bright and so colorful lantana.

Grilled zucchini with sour cream sauce and fresh vegetables- a vegetarian dish that can both open and close the barbecue season. In early spring Young zucchini are available, in the summer the garden is full of a variety of zucchini, and in late autumn mature vegetables are roasted on coals, peeled from seeds and peels. At home, you can also treat yourself to delicious vegetables with a slight smoky aroma. It’s easy to cook healthy vegetables in a special frying pan or on an electric grill with virtually no oil.

Most owners of personal plots would like to see a water corner in their garden - at least a small one, but still their own personal “lake”. In response to this request, ready-made structures for constructing express reservoirs from polymer materials. The task of those who want to have a pond is to dig a suitable hole and install a plastic bowl of the selected configuration into it. But how to choose the right container for a pond?

Many of us remember these trees from childhood. Even careless students probably learned from school geography lessons knowledge about what is in warm countries unusual tree: thick, capable of living for a very long time. And it has a funny name that sticks in your memory - baobab. But where the baobab actually grows and what the properties of this tree are, not many people know.

Let's get to know him better

Baobabs - interesting plants from the mallow family. That huge tree, living in our memory since childhood, botanists call Adansonia digitata. It consists of the surname of the scientist - Adanson, who studied the tropics of Africa, and the Latin word “digitata” - fingered. The leaves of the tree resemble an outstretched palm with 5 to 7 fingers.

But there are others in the baobab genus, less known species, which we’ll talk about a little later.

The baobab tree looks very interesting! Looking at it, sometimes it seems as if the plant was planted upside down. On a huge, thick trunk, completely bare, rises an upstretched “armful” of crown, and its branches are also half-naked. The effect is enhanced during periods of drought, when baobab trees completely lose their leaves. Then it seems that the roots of a tree are sticking out above the surface, the real branches of which are hidden underground.

Baobabs are the champions among trees in terms of trunk thickness. They often have it 8 - 9 meters in diameter! There is evidence that some trees even reached 14 meters, but these are already champions of champions. Often even small cafes are placed in the hollows of baobab trees to attract tourists.

But although the height of these trees is large, about 25 meters, they seem rather squat compared to the volume of the trunk.

Among interesting facts The following can be remembered about baobabs:

• The trunk of a dead baobab does not rot or dry out, but simply turns into a pile of dust.
• Baobab pulp is 6 times richer in vitamin C than orange pulp.
• Fabrics and ropes are made from tree bark.
• Giant baobab flowers are pollinated not by insects, but by the bats.

How long a baobab tree lives is not easy to find out

The fact is that its wood does not have growth rings, like the vast majority of other trees. And this is one of the amazing features of baobabs. Inside, they resemble a dense sponge that can accumulate water. Having “drunk”, the tree can then grow for a long time in hot, dry climates, using its internal “reservoir”. Surprisingly, during such periods the baobab trunk even decreases slightly in diameter!

Knowing about such properties of the plant, elephants sometimes overwhelm the baobab tree if it is not yet very large, and literally eat its trunk, biting off the succulent wood.

Therefore, you can only find out how long a baobab lives using the radiocarbon method. Research shows that many of the trees were probably about a thousand years old. In South Africa, Limpopo province, there is a living baobab tree, whose age is estimated at 6,000 thousand years! There has been a bar inside it for many years. True, not all scientists agree with this assessment of his age. Perhaps the business component also had an influence here. But science does not deny that some baobab trees can live up to 4000 years.

And yet - where to find it?

Returning to our main question, where in nature can you see these amazing trees, we answer - not only in Africa. Of course, African land, namely the areas of savannas and woodlands, is the main “habitat” of tree giants. Baobabs have become a real symbol African savannas(steppes, in our opinion).

But, in addition to Africa, the island of Madagascar can also be considered the birthplace of baobabs. However, there is nothing surprising in this, because by the standards geological history, the island broke away from the mainland relatively recently.

Baobab is valuable African tree, evoking associations with the sultry savanna where it usually grows. Mighty plant is the most a prominent representative family Malvaceae.

Another well-known name is Adansonia palmata, obtained in honor of the French explorer and botanist Michel Adanson.

Many people remember about the baobab from children's books. Eat interesting legend, according to which the plant was planted by an ancient god in the valley deep river Congo. However, he did not like this place because of the coolness. The Creator thought and transplanted it to another country. The tree was again unhappy, and the angry god threw it upside down into the desert.

Where does it grow

The favorite place for baobabs to grow is in arid tropical regions. The native continent is Africa, or rather, savannahs and woodlands. But they are also found in other places: Australia, India, Madagascar.

There are two versions of how the tree came to the Australian continent. Perhaps the population has survived from the time when Australia and Africa were one continent. Supposedly this was 60 million years ago. The second option is that the fruits that fell into the water sailed from Africa and spread along the coast.

Description

In total there are about 150 species of exotic plants. It is distinguished by its unique appearance - it resembles a tree planted upside down. On a bare and thick trunk, which ends abruptly at the top, there is a crown of half-bare branches.

What impresses the most about the giant is the width of its trunk. The diameter of the latter reaches an average of 8 to 10 meters. Compared to its thickness, the tree is short in height. This configuration is due to a natural factor - it helps the plant survive in direct sunlight.

The leaves are the size of a human palm. They are divided into 5 identical parts in the form of lanceolate leaves. During the dry period, which lasts about six months in the savannah, the baobab always sheds its leaves.

The most powerful root system provides the tree with the necessary amount of moisture. The roots first grow down to a depth of 3-4 meters, and then spread laterally over long distances, up to 50 meters.

The bark is thick, brown-brown in color. With its help, it also retains water and prevents it from evaporating.

During periods of drought, its own water reserves are consumed, and the baobab tree decreases somewhat in size. For this reason, gaps form in the trunk. The local population previously used them as warehouses for grain and housing. The rainy season helps the plant return to its previous state.

There are opinions that the tree can survive ten dry years without rain.

The first flowering occurs at the age of 20 years. The baobab blooms at the end of the dry season (October and November) after dropping its leaves. First, round buds form on the branches. At night they bloom and turn into large white flowers (about 20 cm). The lifespan of each specimen is very short - only one night. Fruit bats and fruit bats flock to the aroma. Then the flower withers, emitting a not very pleasant smell, and falls off.

Subsequently, round or oval-shaped fruits appear on the tree, weighing from 1.5 to 3 kg. They are covered with a thick skin and resemble zucchini hanging on long stalks. They contain sour pulp, which is edible and has great nutritional value. It tastes like a mixture of vanilla, pear and grapefruit. Baboons love the filling. For this reason. local residents gave the plant another name - “breadfruit for monkeys.” Inside the fruits there are small black seeds that are spread by animals.

There are many more interesting facts about baobabs. Here are some of them:

1. They do not have rings on the top, like most other trees. Therefore, age can only be determined using radiocarbon dating. Numerous studies Scientists have never been able to determine how many years they live.
2. They are characterized by slow growth - 5-10 centimeters per year. The giants that attract attention are usually many hundreds of years old.
3. They do not create thickets and grow singly.
4. If the bark is completely torn off, it will very quickly regenerate and grow back.
5. They continue to grow even after severe damage and felling. A felled baobab tree can take new roots and survive.
6. Elephants sometimes overwhelm small specimens and eat the succulent wood.
7. They are distinguished by increased survivability and are not afraid of fire.
8. People eat leaves and shoots.
9. Spices are made from the dry parts.

This tree is a symbol of the African savannas. It is associated with strength, power, and, to some extent, eternity. It is impossible to confuse it with any other plant. Locals they call it sometimes pharmaceutical, sometimes magic tree. This message is about him - the famous baobab.

General information

Its name most likely comes from the Arabic word “buhubab”, meaning “fruit with many seeds”. Baobabs belong to the Bambax family, which includes about three hundred species of different trees growing in the tropics. Perhaps the most famous is the species Adansonia palmata. It received its name in honor of the French scientist M. Adanson, known for his wide research activities in the animal sphere and flora tropical Africa.

The thickness of the baobab trunk is amazing, often reaching twelve meters. But there are reports of real giants with a trunk diameter of over 40 meters, and is generally listed in the Guinness Book of Records. a unique specimen with a diameter of 54.5 meters. But this is not surprising, because baobabs are one of the oldest living creatures on the planet. And although the exact age of these trees is extremely difficult to determine due to the lack of annual rings in them, the “godfather of baobabs” Michel Adanson estimated only a 9-meter tree at 5 thousand years.

Legends of the baobabs

There are many legends about these plants. According to one of them, this tree got its very unique appearance thanks to the slowness of the hyena. The hyena was the last one to get his seeds, and she, offended, planted the tree upside down. Since then, it has been growing in this unusual way - with its roots up.

An old Indian legend says: standing under the branches of a baobab tree will receive everything he asks for.

Features of the life of baobabs

During the dry season, the tree sheds its leaves. Then it throws out flower buds on long stalks on leafless branches. The flowers actually open in the late evening and bloom only night. With their fragrance they lure baobab pollinators.

Over time, the already pollinated flowers turn into fruits, which in size and shape resemble a cross between small melons and large cucumbers with damp felt pubescence. They have a quite decent taste, and in addition to humans, they are readily eaten by wild animals, especially monkeys and elephants. By the way, because of this addiction of monkeys to baobab fruits, it is sometimes also called the monkey tree. Elephants eat almost everything from baobabs: fruits, leaves, even the core of the tree.

Legendary is also life force plants. If the bark is torn off, the baobab tree does not die. The bark on the tree is restored. It will not die even if it falls to the ground. It is enough to keep at least one root in contact with the ground, and the tree will grow lying down.

The report on baobabs can be continued, talking about it for hours. In African lands it is difficult to find a plant that is as popular and passionately loved as this wonderful tree.

If this message was useful to you, I would be glad to see you

1. Botanical description
2. Living conditions
3. Legends of origin
4. Places of distribution
5. Application
6. Interesting Facts

Adansonia (lat. Adansonia), or baobab - genus tropical trees from the Malvaceae family. Lives in hot savannah conditions. The exotic plant has about ten species, common on the African mainland and the island of Madagascar.

Botanical description

The baobab does not look like an ordinary tree; it resembles a giant carrot with a bunch of tops sticking out of the ground or a small tower. Plants rarely reach a height of 17–18 m, but the width of the trunks of individual specimens can be up to 8–10 m. Closer to the top the trees become thinner, but not much. Root system branched. The roots spread widely to the sides of the trunks, finding and sucking up the slightest drops of moisture. These trees do not create thickets and prefer to grow alone.

The side shoots of baobabs are located almost on the top of the head; their entire length of bare trunks is covered with thick brownish-brown bark. Its upper part is quite soft, the lower part is harder, it hides a large number of moisture. The branches are few, thickened, gnarled, forming a ragged, shapeless crown. The leaves are brown-green, with a smooth surface, simple or palmate, five- or seven-lobed, about 10 cm long and 5 cm wide.

Baobabs bloom from October to December. White five-fingered corollas with long red stamens usually bloom on branches devoid of leaves. The buds grow up to 20 cm in diameter and hang on short stalks. Each flower lives no more than a day. In the evening it emits a spicy aroma that attracts nearby insects and bats. By morning, the petals of the inflorescences close, and an unpleasant putrid smell appears. After a few more hours, the bud completely withers, breaks off, and falls to the ground. The ovary remains in its place. After a few weeks, fleshy fruits ripen, similar to swollen cucumbers or small melons. Under the light green, fleecy, thick shell is hidden a mealy pulp that has a sour taste and contains many small dark seeds.

The wood is soft, saturated with moisture, and has no growth rings.

Living conditions

Adansonia belongs tosucculents, able to concentrate water in their fleshy tissues. Habitat conditions predispose such species to survival. Hot weather with long dry seasons and poor soils are destructive for broad-leaved species with dense crowns and a lot of greenery. During periods of drought, baobabs decrease in size, the trunks are noticeably blown away, and the leaves fall off. The plant begins to economically use the accumulated moisture. With the onset of the rainy season, the trees again fill with water and swell.

The vitality of baobabs is surprising. They do not die after removing most of the bark from the trunks; they grow back from small area root preserved after cutting down. Soft, watery wood is easily affected by fungus in hot conditions. But even with severe destruction, rotting of the massif, the formation of large voids, the tree continues to grow and bear fruit. The lifespan of adansonia is about 1000 years. Baobabs grow slowly. Every year they rise by 5–10 cm and spread up to 40 cm in width.

Legends of origin

Residents of the areas where the baobab lives tell ancient legend, explaining the origin and strange appearance of the tree. God, creating the earth and all life on it, settled this plant in the most fertile and picturesque place near great river Congo. But the tree turned out to be capricious and did not want to stay there. He was disturbed by the sound of water and dampness. Mountain valley from behind strong winds I also didn’t like the baobab. For a long time God tried to please the tree by choosing different places. In the end, he got angry, tore out the baobab tree and stuck it upside down in the most uninhabitable dry savannah. The plant had to get used to new conditions, learn to absorb rare precipitation, and come to terms with its curious appearance.

Another legend says that the baobab used to grow in the sky and reach gigantic sizes. One day he was thrown from there to the ground, because the Creator decided to stop the development of the giant. The branches stuck into the soil, but the roots remained sticking up.

Places of distribution

Adansonia Gregory (lat. Adansonia gregorii) lives in the northwestern territories of Australia, in places where the climate is similar to the savannas of Africa.

Some species are distributed in the northern and western parts of Madagascar and throughout the entire area of ​​African savannas: from Sudan to southern tropical latitudes, from Mauritania to the east coast.

In Madagascar, the natives consider the baobab sacred tree . They believe that in everyone locality There must be at least one talisman protecting the well-being of the inhabitants. Adansonia also serves as a source of food and water for people and animals. African elephants They love to eat these trees whole. Monkeys feast on the pulp of the fruit. Because of this, baobabs received another name - monkey breadfruit.

Application

All parts of wood contain a lot of moisture. The leaves, fruit pulp, and bark are suitable for consumption.

Bark

Seasoning is made from the soft part of the tree bark. national dishes. Ash is used in folk medicine as an antiseptic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent for colds, intestinal disorders, bites poisonous insects and reptiles.

Baskets, mats, fishing nets are woven from bast fibers, ropes and threads are made. In Europe, paper is made from this part of the bark.

Leaves and shoots

Not only animals eat greens and young branches of adansonia. This is a very popular ingredient in some national cuisines. Fresh leaves used in salads, soups, baked, boiled and stewed. The branches are pickled and added to various dishes. Tinctures are prepared from dried leaves and shoots and used to treat inflammatory diseases.

Tree pollen is used as a raw material for making soap and glue.

Fruits and seeds

The pulp of the baobab fruit is light cream in color, resembles a pumpkin in consistency, and emits a ginger-like aroma. It is edible, contains vegetable proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and many useful mineral compounds. Ascorbic acid and it contains much more B vitamins than other fruits and vegetables. Eat both raw and dried fruits. The pulp is also dried, ground into powder, and used to prepare a drink similar to ginger lemonade.

Raw seeds are chewed like sunflowers. Dried - finely ground, prepare a coffee drink from them.

It is believed that the fruits of baobabs perfectly relieve fatigue, prevent many diseases, and nourish the body no worse than meat and bread.

Even the hard shell of the fruit is used. The shell halves are used as bowls for storing small items, they are set on fire and driven away with the smoke of tropical gnats. Hair potions are prepared from the ash.

Wood

In industry, baobab wood is practically not used. It has no properties building materials. Powerful trunks - a source of moisture. The loose fibers, after drying, are used to make ropes. Baobab roots contain a red pigment, and the juice is sometimes used as a natural dye.

• Baobab is depicted on state emblems some African republics.
• Adansonia baobab was named after the biologist Michel Adanson, who described the monstrously thick tree. The circumference was about 55 m and the age was more than 5000 years.
• Baobab bark has fire-resistant properties. If the trees do get burned, they continue to grow..
• Even trees felled to the ground do not die. If the roots survive, then new branches and leaves grow on them. Baobabs are able to live in a horizontal position.
• Inside soft, watery trunks, due to fungal infection, huge hollows often form, more like caves. Residents use them as barns, bathhouses, warehouses, houses and even prisons. Trees converted into various rooms do not stop living, continue to bloom, and bear fruit..
• The root system penetrates to a great depth and fills the entire adjacent space on the surface. Despite the fact that the crowns of the baobab trees do not provide any shade, nothing grows under them. There are not even small bushes or grass. Root shoots take everything nutrients, displace other flora.
• Baobabs that have outlived their useful life do not dry out, but gradually crumble and turn into a bunch of individual fibers. There are no hard mineral deposits in their wood, so when age-related changes occur in the bark and moisture leaves the trunks, nothing holds their skeleton. Decay occurs over several decades.