Baobab Tree (Adansonia digitata), packet of 5 seeds

Family: Bombaceae
Hardy to Zones 10 to 12.  May be grown as a potted plant, brought in for the winter.  Protect from frost.
Perennial succulent tree native to Africa.   Surely one of the most unusual trees on earth, the Baobab is elephant-like in a land of elephants, with a vastly stocky trunk and humanoid branches. Bears pendulous, giant, white-winged flowers that sport globular arrays of yellow-tipped stamens and give way to the velvety, elongated fruits. These fruits contain a powdery pulp, rich in citric and tartaric acid (also quercetin), that makes a refreshing, tart, astringent drink.  Traditional usage: fevers and diarrhea. The young leaves of the tree are steamed and eaten as a nutritious food.  The bark is twisted into fibre and used in basketry or rope making. The plant prefers dry conditions, well-drained soil and tolerates full sun. A rarity in domestic culture.  Scarify the large, roundish seeds and plant in warm, sandy soil. Scarify by rubbing on sandpaper in one spot until the testa is rubbed through and the white pericarp just shows.  Alternately, hold the seed down on a cutting board with one finger and slice through one end of the seed, thus revealing a small window through which you will see the white pericarp.  Incomplete scarification will yield no results–the testa must be pierced!

5 seeds/pkt, Open Pollinated, Untreated, NO GMO’s