Tall, Fat and Upside-Down

Luke 6:44
“For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.”

If you want to snack on fruit from a 10-story-high Grandidier’s baobab tree, you’d better bring a very tall ladder. That’s because there are no branches to climb until you get to near the very top of the tree. And you can forget about wrapping your arms and legs around the trunk. The baobab’s  massive cylindrical trunks measure up to 10 feet across, and are quite smooth.

The Grandidier’s baobob is probably the strangest and most magnificent of the eight species of baobab, and it is found nowhere else on earth than Madagascar. Lack of water can sometimes be a problem for plants in Madagascar, so the baobab overcomes this by storing water within the fibrous wood of the trunk. It is so effective at storing water, the tree’s diameter actually fluctuates with rainfall.

Other species of baobab tree – like the ones in Africa – look as if they were built upside down – with their roots at the top of the tree. African baobabs are also the fattest trees in the world. Some have a “waist size” of more than 165 feet, which is bigger around than their height. Though the tree trunks look solid, elephants know they can gouge into the wood with their tusks to enjoy a nice drink of water. Baobabs can also grow to a great age – some are said to have been alive at the time of Christ.

Baobab trees look very different than any other trees on our planet and demonstrate that there is no end to the creativity of God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, there is no limit to Your creative power! Even the trees lift up their branches in praise to You! Amen.

Author: Steven J. Schwartz
Ref: “Overweight and Upside Down,” 1000 Wonders of Nature, p. 243 (Readers Digest Assn., 2001). Adansonia grandidieri, Wikipedia. Grandidier’s baobab, http://www.arkive.org/grandidiers-baobab/adansonia-grandidieri/. Photo: Adansonia grandidieri, baobab from Madagascar. Courtesy of Bernard Gagnon. (CC-BY-SA 3.0)

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