Mango Tree Useful for Forestation and as a Medicinal Plant

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 164 -365

 
Mango grows in any kind of soil and produces the fruit that may either be licked, eaten or slurped.
Mango is a good tree to consider for plating large areas of land, a tree that is useful  and can prevent landslides that we saw that are happening in the world.

More Mango trees can be planted in parks and public spaces. Public Garden should include Mango in the garden architectures of cities in warm areas.

• Dried mango flowers are used in the treatment of diarrhea, chronic dysentery and some problems of the bladder.

Mango (Mangifera sp) is a fruit that grows in tropical regions throughout the world. It serves as the main food of many people in tropical countries and is often called the king of tropical fruits. Mangoes are eaten fresh or are used in making desserts, preserves, and some other foods. The fruit is an excellent source of vitamins A and C.

Mangoes were first cultivated about 4,000 years ago in India and the Malay Archipelago. In the 1700's and 1800's, European explorers brought mangoes from India to other tropical countries. Today, farmers grow mangoes in Brazil, India, Mexico, and the Philippines. In the United States, mangoes grow in Florida and in Hawaii.

The mango tree is an evergreen that grows about 70 feet (21 meters) tall. It has long, slender leaves and small, pinkish-white flowers. The fruit develops from the ovaries of the blossoms and ripens about five months after the flowers bloom.

Mangoes are evergreen trees that are drought tolerant and love sunshine.  Here are some great tips for growing and caring for Mango Trees:

• Are accustomed to hot and dry climates so plant in full sun and do not over water. A good rule is to water a newly planted tree every three days for the first month, once a week for the next two months, and only during extended dry spells after that.
• Be careful of over watering while fruit is developing as this can cause the fruit to burst.
• Tropical plant that can become temporarily dormant at temperatures of 40 degrees or below and will be damaged or die at 32 degrees or below.  Be sure to cover during frost with coverings staked to the ground as this allows the heat from the ground to keep the tree warm.
• Pruning is not recommended for amateurs and should only be done with sterilized blades.
• Mango seeds do not produce the same quality fruit as the tree they originate from.  If you eat a particularly flavorful mango, its seed will not produce the same delicious fruit.  For this reason, many mango trees are grafted.

- See more at: http://www.tropicalfloridagardens.com/2011/05/24/tips-for-growing-and-caring-for-mango-trees/#sthash.L5SzIYij.dpuf

 Mango is a good tree that is used in Agroforestry

Mangoes are evergreen trees that are drought tolerant and love sunshine.  Here are some great tips for growing and caring for Mango Trees:

• Are accustomed to hot and dry climates so plant in full sun and do not over water. A good rule is to water a newly planted tree every three days for the first month, once a week for the next two months, and only during extended dry spells after that.
• Be careful of over watering while fruit is developing as this can cause the fruit to burst.
• Tropical plant that can become temporarily dormant at temperatures of 40 degrees or below and will be damaged or die at 32 degrees or below.  Be sure to cover during frost with coverings staked to the ground as this allows the heat from the ground to keep the tree warm.
• Pruning is not recommended for amateurs and should only be done with sterilized blades.
• Mango seeds do not produce the same quality fruit as the tree they originate from.  If you eat a particularly flavorful mango, its seed will not produce the same delicious fruit.  For this reason, many mango trees are grafted.

- See more at: http://www.tropicalfloridagardens.com/2011/05/24/tips-for-growing-and-caring-for-mango-trees/#sthash.L5SzIYij.dpuf

Why Agroforestry

In many areas of the world, forests are more than just wildlife habitat or recreation sites. Many communities and families rely on local forests for the food they eat, the wood they use to keep their houses warm and the products they sell to support themselves. Without proper education, though, these life-giving forests are often degraded faster than natural restoration can occur, leaving the surrounding areas with poorer water quality, increased air pollution and a dwindling forest.

Agroforestry is a growing practice around the world in which forests are cared for by local residents, who also sustainably harvest fruits, nuts and sometimes the trees themselves. With proper management and reforestation practices, these forests and their “farmers” flourish, reaping benefits from each other.

One such project is Sangarédi, Guinea, and surrounding villages. Alcoa Foundation, American Forests and Association Guinéenne d’Eveil au Développement Durable are planting 28,000 trees with 2,500 volunteers in villages around Sangarédi, Guinea.

Cultural significance

The mango is the national fruit of India and the Philippines. It is also the national tree of Bangladesh. In India, harvest and sale of mangoes is during March–May and this is annually covered by news agencies. "Frooti" is an Indian mango drink 

The Mughal emperor Akbar (1556-1605 AD) is said to have planted a mango orchard having 100,000 trees in Darbhanga, eastern India. The Jain goddess Ambika is traditionally represented as sitting under a mango tree.

In Hinduism, the perfectly ripe mango is often held by Lord Ganesha as a symbol of attainment, regarding the devotees potential perfection. Mango blossoms are also used in the worship of the goddess Saraswati.

No Telugu/Kannada New Year's Day called Ugadi passes without eating ugadi pachadi made with mango pieces as one of the ingredients. In Tamil Brahmin homes mango is an ingredient in making vadai paruppu on Sri Rama Navami day (Lord Ram's Birth Day) and also in preparation of pachadi on Tamil New Year's Day.

 Medicinal Uses

• The leaf of the mango plant is known to be very effective in controlling diabetes and blood pressure. Boil three to four mango leaves in water and allow the mixture to ferment overnight. Crush the leaves and drink this infusion first thing in the morning.
• Suffering from hair fall or grey hair? Try mango seed oil. An excellent source of essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, the mango seed kernel has great moisturizing properties. You don’t need to go looking for the oil in the market. Just remove the outer coat of the mango seed and add them to a jar of coconut, til (sesame) or mustard oil.  Place the jar in sunlight for a few days. Use this concoction regularly for long, black and thick hair.   
• few qualities of this amazing fruit
•  Increases immunity: According physicians, a normal size Mango is more nutritious than butter or almonds. It strengthens and invigorates all the nerves, tissues and muscles in the brain, heart and other parts of the body. It cleans the body from within and helps to improve immunity. 
  • Provides protection against cancer: Mangoes are rich in dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals, and poly-phenolic flavonoids (an antioxidant compound). It has been found that mangoes have qualities that can protect against colon, breast and prostate cancers as well as from leukaemia.
  • Helps maintain good vision: Mangoes are an excellent source of Vitamin-A and flavonoids like beta-carotene, alpha-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin. Together, these compounds are antioxidants and can help in improving and maintaining good vision. The carotene content in the fruit helps to protect the body from lung cancer.
  • Aids control of blood pressure:  Fresh mangoes are a good source of potassium. Nutritionists say that 100 g of the fruit provides 156 mg of potassium and just 2 mg of sodium. Potassium is an important component of the cell and body fluids. It also helps to control the heart rate and blood pressure.
  • Improves skin and complexion: Packed with Vitamin A, mangoes help by providing the body with an  essential nutrient  to maintaining healthy skin and complexion as well as the integrity of the mucus membranes.
  • Protects from heart disease: Mangoes are also a very good source of vitamin-B6 (pyridoxine), vitamin-C and vitamin-E. Vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infections and scavenges harmful free radicals. Vitamin B-6 or pyridoxine is required for GABA hormone production (a hormone required to maintain muscle tone) within the brain. It also helps to control homocystiene levels within the blood, which in turn helps to protect the heart from CAD (coronary artery disease) and stroke.
  • Prevents anemia: The fruit contains moderate amounts of copper. Copper is an essential co-factor for the proper function of many vital enzymes, including cytochrome c-oxidase and superoxide dismutase. Copper is also required for the production of red blood cells.
   TRADITIONAL REMEDIES
  Heat Stroke
  Boil raw mangoes in water till cooked. Extract the juice, and mix with sugar, water, salt and a pinch of cumin seeds. Drink this consistently in the hot summer, especially when you suffer a heat stroke or get prickly heat.
  
  Digestion
  Aamchur or sun-dried raw mango powder is great to aid the digestive system. Eating one or two small tender mangoes in which the see is still not fully formed, with salt and honey is an effective medicine for summer diarrhea, dysentery, piles, morning sickness, chronic dyspepsia and indigestion.
  
  Blood Disorders
  Raw mangoes increase the elasticity of the blood vessels, and help the formation of new blood cells. It aids absorption of food iron. It increases resistance against TB, anemia, cholera and dysentery.
  
  Bilious Disorders
  The acids contained in the green mangoes increase the secretion of bile and act as an intestinal antiseptic. Have it with honey and black pepper daily. This paste is also good for toning the liver.
  
  Eye Disorders
  Mango Milkshakes are very good for the eyes, due to Vitamin A. Night blindness, dryness of the eyes, itching and burning of the eyes.
  
  Loss of weight
  Mango with milk, or preferably, Soya milk gives an ideal mixture of sugar and protein for under-weight people. Consuming this three times a day for a month will lead to better health, weight gain and vigor.
  
  Diabetes
  The tender leaves of the mango tree are used to prevent and control early symptoms of diabetes. Soak the fresh leaves in water overnight and squeeze them in water before straining it the next morning. Alternatively, these leaves should be dried, powdered and preserved. Take half a teaspoon of this powder twice a day.
  
  Spleen enlargement, dysentery and diarrhea
  The mango stone should be dried and powdered. (you may do the same with the jamun seeds). Mix this powder with a big tablespoon of curd to cure spleen enlargement, dysentery and diarrhea.
  
  Throat disorder
  The mango bark is very effective in the treatment of diphtheria and other throat diseases.
  
  Gum inflammation
  Boil two tablespoons of mango flowers and tender buds in two cups of water and use as a mouth-wash regularly to cure the infammation of the gums
  
  Skin disorders
  The gum of the mango tree and the resinous substance exuded from the stem end of the fruits can be mixed with lime juice and use to heal coetaneous infections and scabies.
  
  So, amazingly, almost every part of the mango tree is used to cure common diseases. So, here, like the coconut tree, we have a mango tree which has immense practical use in our daily lives.

Not only do they provide excellent shade but some of the tastiest and most popular fruit in the world. - See more at: http://www.tropicalfloridagardens.com/2011/05/24/tips-for-growing-and-caring-for-mango-trees/#sthash.L5SzIYij.dpuf

Not only do they provide excellent shade but some of the tastiest and most popular fruit in the world. - See more at: http://www.tropicalfloridagardens.com/2011/05/24/tips-for-growing-and-caring-for-mango-trees/#sthash.L5SzIYij.dpuf

 

Aztecs Trees and Gardens and Medicinal Plants

By Liliana Usvat

Tenochtitlan was a garden city, and the Aztecs/Mexica, in Jacques Soustelle’s words ‘had a positive passion for flowers’. This may hardly be surprising given that 1 in 10 of all the 250,000 species of plants in the world are found in Mexico - and half of these are ‘endemic’ to the country (only to be found in Mexico). 

The importance of flowers in ancient Mexico, representing as they did life, death, gods, creation, humans, language, song and art, friendship, stateliness, warrior captives, war itself, sky, earth... and an important calendar sign. Flowers accompanied humans from conception and birth to death and burial: clearly the flower was ‘one of the basic elements in the art of pre-Hispanic language - like the quetzal feather and the jade bead, it was the essence of something “precious”.

’The name for garden in general was xochitla, literally flower place; a variant being xoxochitla, a place of many flowers. A walled garden was xochitepanyo. The pleasure garden of the ruling class was designated as xochitecpancalli, the palace of flowers. The humble garden of the Indian was and is a xochichinancalli, flower place enclosed by a fence made of cane or reeds.’

Creating and developing a garden was a well respected pastime for the Aztec/Mexica élite, highly organised with teams of professional gardeners - who linked their expert knowledge of plants to the sacred calendar - and made possible by the accumulated wealth of the Aztec state. Writing of one of the many palaces that so astounded the Spanish with its beauty, Susan Toby Evans explains some of the ‘nitty-gritty’ behind the scenes:

 

 Labour crews performing tribute obligations built the place, dug the ponds, plastered them, brought the stone and timbers and plants - all of this magnificence was paid for by the Aztec empire. And the design... reveals how Aztec [rulers] were kept in contact with affairs of state - canals brought canoes directly to the palaces... just as limousines and helicopters today ferry executive officers of business and government from one important meeting to another.

So highly developed and regulated was the art of gardening that strict laws preventing commoners from growing (or picking) certain flowers helped the nobility to display their rank and privileges in a direct (and colourful) way...

Whilst the Spanish constantly only used one word - ‘rose’ - to describe any large, colourful flower, Mexica horticulturalists had already developed an entire scientific system for plant names, combining terms that referred to a plant’s key characteristics (appearance, colour, habitat, medicinal properties etc.) Phil Clark lists the following examples:-
• Aquatic - at(l)
• Medicinal - patli
• Herb - xihuitl
• Edible quilitl
• Shrub quatzin
• Tree quahuitl
• Spiny huiztli
• Flower-bearing xochitl
• Fruit-bearing:
- acid fruits xocotl
- sweet, fleshy fruits zapotla

It’s a sad fact today that not a single Aztec garden plan remains, and we’re left, ironically, with the - in some cases quite detailed - descriptions written by the Spanish conquerors before they ravaged what must have been a truly beautiful landscape.

Moctezuma II kept three pleasure gardens - at his Tenochtitlan palace, as part of the cypress park and hanging gardens at Chapultepec, and at Iztapalapa. In his second letter to Charles V, in 1520, Cortés described the palace garden of Cuitlahuac (Moctezuma’s brother) at Iztapalapa in glowing terms:-

There are... very refreshing gardens with many trees and sweet-scented flowers, bathing places of fresh water, well constructed and having steps leading down to the bottom. [There was also] a large orchard near the house overlooked by a high terrace with many beautiful corridors and rooms. Within the orchard is a great square pool of fresh water, very well constructed, with sides of handsome masonry, around which runs a walk with a well-laid pavement of tiles, so wide that four persons can walk abreast on it, and 400 paces square, making in all 1,600 paces. On the other side of this promenade toward the wall of the garden are hedges of lattice work made of cane, behind which are all sorts of plantations of trees and aromatic herbs. The pool contains many fish and different kinds of waterfowl.

The hilltop gardens of the poet-king Netzahualcóyotl of Texcoco at Tetzcotzinco proved legendary, and were later to inspire the not-to-be-outdone Mexica ruler Moctezuma I to create the ‘botanical’ gardens at Huaxtepec. The native chronicler Ixtlilxochitl (himself descended from Netzahualcóyotl) gave a rich description .

These parks and gardens were adorned with rich and sumptuously ornamented alcazars (summerhouses) with their fountains, their irrigation channels, their canals, their lakes and their bathing-places and wonderful mazes, where he had had a great variety of flowers planted and trees of all kinds, foreign and brought from distant parts... and the water intended for the fountains, pools and channels for watering the flowers and trees in this park came from its spring: to bring it, it had been necessary to build strong, high, cemented walls of unbelievable size, going from one mountain to the other with an aqueduct on top which came out at the highest part of the park.

Whenever the ruler claimed special (rare) plants in tribute, they were brought to the Aztec capital ‘in great quantities, with the earth still about the roots, wrapped in fine cloth’ - along with specialists in their upkeep - and were then ‘taken to Huaxtepec and planted around the springs’, according to the Spanish chronicler Diego Durán. The plantings were accompanied by ritual ceremonies that included bloodletting and the sacrifice of large numbers of quail to Xochiquetzal, the Mexica flower deity

By the time the Spanish came on the scene, the gardens had spread over 7 miles in circumference and held some 2,000 species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Cortés claimed these were the ‘finest, pleasantest and largest’ gardens he had ever seen:-

A very pretty rivulet [stream] with high banks ran through it from one end to the other. For the distance of two shots from a crossbow there were arbors [shady spots] and refreshing gardens and an infinite number of different kinds of fruit trees; many herbs and sweet-scented flowers. It certainly filled one with admiration to see the grandeur and exquisite beauty of this entire orchard.

All this was more than just an exotic display of conspicuous consumption: the medicinal plants grown at Huaxtepec were key to a huge trade in what today we might call ‘health products’ (follow the ‘Four Hundred Flowers’ link below to our Aztec Health section) - an Aztec industry whose importance was recognised by the Spanish: Huaxtepec was visited by the great natural historian Francisco Hernández, sent by the Spanish king to document the resources and to obtain valuable plants. 

 

Several great historians, including William Prescott and Francisco del Paso y Troncoso, have claimed that the Aztecs developed the world’s first botanical gardens or ‘places designed to display an encyclopedic array of plants’ (Toby Evans). It remains highly likely that Europe’s earliest botanical gardens, created in Italy in the 1540s, were inspired by the great Mexica pleasure gardens that blew the Spanish away with their beauty... 

The Aztecs had developed a highly sophisticated system of medicine, in which these medicinal and useful herbs played a vital part (Burns and Arroo 2005). We know this because, in the wake of the Conquistadors, scholars travelled to the Americas to record the knowledge of the indigenous people in the form of codices and other documents. We can also see traces of traditional uses of herbs in the contemporary use of medicinal plants by Mexican communities.

The codices - Medicinal Uses of Plants

Of the surviving post-Conquest documents, one of the most attractive is probably the Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis – also known variously as the Aztec Herbal, the Badianus Manuscript, or the Codex Barberini (de la Cruz 2000). It was written in 1552 by a young Aztec doctor, Martin de la Cruz “taught by no formal reasonings, but educated by experiments only”, and describes a number of ailments suffered by the Aztec people, together with their recommended treatments – some of which seem a little bizarre, it must be said. 

A more detailed study is found in Friar Sahagún’s 16th Century General History of the Things of New Spain(de Sahagun 1963). This treatise of Aztec daily life – known as the Florentine Codex – contains a book titled “Earthly Things”, of which a large section is devoted to the medicinal herbs. Sahagúns’ text is considered to present a more authentic picture of genuine Aztec medicine than de la Cruz’ Aztec Herbal, because the latter had perhaps been “contaminated” by Spanish influences. We also have Hernandez’ Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus, covering over a thousand medicinal plants, and described in detail in Professor Ortiz de Montallano’s introduction to this section.

Together, these documents describe a number of plants that are well known to us today as foodstuffs – vanilla, tomato, and guava, for example – and others that we know as ornamental flowers, such as types of magnolia and frangipani. The books give us botanical descriptions of the plants, details of how the Aztecs prepared them, and tell us which ailments were treated with them.  

Hot and cold
Like Europeans of the time, Aztecs believed that plants were “hot” or “cold”, and could be used to correct excess heat or cold in the body. Excess cold in the body was concomitant with the retention of water, and cold/watery illnesses like gout ( coacihuiztli, which literally translates as “the stiffening of the serpent”) would be remedied with the application of a hot herb. 

(Yauhtli)

Interestingly, many of the hot herbs, such as yauhtli (Tagetes lucida), act as diuretics, removing excess water from the body. Yauhtli was frequently used together with the hot herb iztauhyatl (Artemisia mexicana)

  (Artemisia mexicana)

, the leaves of which were ground in water and drunk. Conversely the root of the Tlalmizquitl (Prosopis juliflora, the mesquite tree)

( Prosopis juliflora)

 is “required by him whose body is very hot...it is the proper drink to cool his body”. 

Sweet-smelling flowers – the Aztec word for flower is ‘xochitl’ - were considered to be medicinal. De la Cruz describes an attractive remedy for the relief of fatigue, requiring eloxochitl (Magnolia dealbata), 

Magnolia dealbata

izquixochitl (Bourreria humilis)

, cacaloxochitl (Plumeria mexicana,

(Plumeria mexicana),

 a frangipani described as being of “exceeding beauty”) and mecaxochitl(Vanilla planifolia). 

  mecaxochitl(Vanilla planifolia)

Together with a few other “sweet summer flowers”, a fragrant water is made which will give “gladiatorial strength to the body” of the patient who bathes in it.  

Given as treatments for digestive troubles are the cotztomatl (Physalis costomatl - incidentally the Aztec word “tomatl” is the root of our “tomato”) 

  cotztomatl (Physalis costomatl)

; mecaxochitl, “for internal ailments”; memeya (a Euphorbia),

  Euphorbia

 good for “one whose abdomen goes resounding”; and the cococxiuitl (Bocconia frutescens),

  cococxiuitl (Bocconia frutescens)

 used for constipation. Apparently the latter cannot be eaten or drunk, but must be inserted in, shall we say, the other end of the alimentary canal. Sahagún’s informant warned, “It burns like chilli”. Fortunately he added that “not much is required”, for which the patient must have been grateful.

For the ever-present gout the Aztec herbalist applied picietl (Nicotiana rustica, a wild tobacco)

 – also good for relieving tiredness.
Respiratory illnesses don’t appear all that frequently in the Aztec literature, but recommended for a chesty cough is the Tlaquequetzal (Achillea millefolium, or yarrow).

  Tlaquequetzal (Achillea millefolium, or yarrow)

The activities of the Aztec warriors kept the healers busy. For “him who is pierced by an arrow”, the leaves and bark of the waxy chapolxiuitl (Pedilanthus pavonis) 

  Pedilanthus pavonis

are applied to the wound, as it a preparation of zayolitzcan (Buddleia americana).

  Buddleja americana

 The combination of agave sap and salt is a very regular occurrence in wound remedies - agave sap, when mixed with salt, forms a solution that kills bacteria by dehydrating them. 

Need a tonic? Try this recipe. Take the sap of the yellow-leafed maguey (Agave atrovirens), and cook it together with some yellow chilli and tomato juice, and ten gourd seeds. Take after eating.

After that you may need some Aztec toothpaste. Take the root of the tlatlauhcapatli (Geranium carolinianum), 

  (Geranium carolinianum)

together with some salt and chilli, and make a paste. Rub the paste into your teeth, if you dare. 

And for a mouthwash, try an infusion of iztauhyatl (Artemisia mexicana).

Baobab Tree - Protector of the African Continent Fight Diabetis

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 163-365

Baobab is the common name of a genus of trees (Adansonia). There are eight species, six native to Madagascar, and one each to mainland Africa and Australia.

Viewed by the native population as their symbol of the African Continent and as their Protector, the Baobab is of high importance for humans and animals as it provides them with food and medicine. In traditional African medicine, the Baobab is used to help treat fever, diarrhea, dysentery, malaria, smallpox, and inflammation. 
 
The Baobab Tree is also known as the “Tree of Life”, “The Chemist Tree” and “The Monkey Bread Tree”. The scientific name is Adansonia Digitata. It is a deciduous tree that can reach 30 meters or 90 feet in height and 15 meters or 45 feet in diameter. The swollen, short, bottle shaped trunk can store up to 30,000 gallons of water during the dry season, which serves as water storage for the villages. The Baobab Tree can live up to 5000 years and is protected from fire due to its spongy wood.

Known as 'The Tree of Life', the baobab is an icon of the African savannah; a symbol of life and positivity in a landscape where little else can thrive. The Baobab trees are also known as an upside down bottles or monkey bread trees. 
 
Two magnificent baobab trees (Adansonia digitata) with possibly the widest tree-trunks to be found in the Caribbean grow in Barbados!  The largest can be seen in our Queen's Park in Bridgetown. To give an example of the size of this tree of great distinction, it takes 15 adults joining with outstretched arms to cover its circumference.

This tree is estimated as being over one thousand years old! It is thought that a seed floated from Ginea, West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean to the shores of Barbados and eventually grew into this magnificent tree. 
 
The other grand specimen can be found on the Warrens Road in St.Michael, where the inscription on the wooden plaque reads:  Boabab Tree (Adansonia digitata)

 
 One of the two mature trees in Barbados. This remarkable tree of girth 44.5 ft (13.6m) is believed to have been brought from Guinea, Africa around 1738 making it over 250 years old. Its jug-shaped trunk is ideally suited for storing water, an ideal adaption in the dry savannah
regions of its native Africa.

Another larger Baobab tree of girth 51.5 ft (18.5m) is located in Queen's Park, Bridgetown. 
 
Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami has a Baobab tree. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is a 83-acre (34 ha) botanic garden, with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including palms, cycads, flowering trees and vines. It is located in metropolitan Miami, just south of Coral Gables, Florida, United States.

Currently, Fairchild supports some 22,800 catalogued plants that comprise more than 3,400 species—a phenomenal increase from the 1939 inventory of 692 plants and 243 species. Fairchild’s palm and cycad collection are among the greatest in the world.

Stories about Baobab
 
The folklore surrounding these trees are truly amazing, one tale tells of God accidentally planting the tree upside down, there fore when a Baobab tree dies it spontaneously catches fire, apparently the event of a baobab tree catching fire has some credible witnesses, that describes this as a wondrous and completely unbelievable thing to witness.

Uses

• The leaves are used as condiments and medicines. The fruit, called "monkey bread", is edible, and full of Vitamin C. The fruit has a velvety shell and is about the size of a coconut, weighing about 1.44 kilograms (3.2 lb). It has a somewhat acidic flavour, described as 'somewhere between grapefruit, pear, and vanilla'
•  The tree bears fruit once a year, which is harvested by the local population. The fruit contains naturally dehydrated fruit pulp, which is then mechanically separated from the fiber and seeds. The leaves and seeds provide botanical extracts used in a variety of industries. The seed endocarp has naturally occurring Omega 3, 6 and 9. 

• The tree can store hundreds of litres of water, which is an adaptation to the harsh drought conditions of its environment. The tree may be tapped in dry periods.
• These seed are considered refreshing to suck and when boiled or soaked in water they make a refreshing lemony flavored drink. 
• Some natives believe that drinking the water that the seeds were soaked in would protect them from crocodiles.

 
Medicinal Uses

Baobab tree is also known as the “Tree of Life” due to its nutrition facts. New reports have shown that the ingredients in African baobab tree and its fruit cover vitamins and nutrients including riboflavin, niacin and vitamins C, A, D and E. This makes baobab enjoy a high reputation for its benefits.
 
In traditional African medicine, baobab fruit is used to treat a number of illnesses including

• asthma - the leave is boiled and the water that is left after the boiling is done can be taken is small dosages to cure asthma, coughs and other chest related ailments
•  fever, 
• diarrhea, 
• malaria and 
• smallpox. 
• In addition, practitioners of traditional African medicine often use baobab fruit to curb inflammation.

Baobab fruit can

• help slow the aging process and
•  protect against major illnesses like heart disease and 
• cancer. 
• diabet Prized in Africa for centuries for its health-boosting properties, the fruit from the ancient baobab tree is an extremely rich source of polyphenals, known to be beneficial in reducing the glycaemic response - the rate at which sugar is released into the bloodstream. 

 

• The Baobab Essence has been very useful for pain, for example back pain or pain caused by arthritis, again having almost instantaneous results.
• The flower essence also help to heal flesh wounds. 
• Many people have reported that the Baobab has good (miraculous in a few cases) effects in pain, especially for the back and related to arthritis.
• The edible oil in baobab can also be applied to the skin for beauty purposes.
• The residue that remains after processing oil is mixed with coconut oil and used for making soap.  the soap helps to fight skin diseases, such as acne, sunburn, eczema and rashes.  

• Baobab fruits are vital to encourage probiotic organisms to survive and thrive in the human gut. The soluble fiber, being a non-digestible food ingredient, stimulates the growth and activity of bacteria in the digestive system, which are beneficial to the health of the body.
• Rich in iron, high in potassium and containing vital blood clotting ingredients it can even help support the circulatory system whilst the high-fibre content benefits the digestive system

Life Span

The trees are long-lived, but just how long is disputed. The owners of Sunland Farm in Limpopo, South Africa have built a pub called "The Big Baobab Pub" inside the hollow trunk of the 22 metres (72 ft) high tree. The tree is 47 m (155 ft) in circumference, and is said to have been carbon dated at over 6,000 years old.

Propagation from Seeds

Typically soaking baobab seed in hot water for 24 hour. After they have been soaked they will then need to be dried for another day or so before planting. The germination rate for baobab seeds can be low, slow and sporadic so sow two to three times the amount of seed required to ensure you get enough stock. Be aware that it can take 3-4 months from your first Baobab seedling to germinate until your last one pokes its head above the compost.

It is imperative that you use a very well-drained growing medium. You can use a standard seed compost - such as John Innes 'Seed and Cutting' but you will need to mix in an equal part of horticultural grit or perlite to improve the drainage further.


In order to germinate the baobab seeds the soil temperature will need to be kept at between 15 and 19 degrees Celsius, so unless you are blessed with these temperature naturally you will need to keep your compost - presumably held in a seed tray - in a heated propagator.

Planting seed approximately 1/2 in. deep in the compost and water well using warm water. The seeds can now be moved to a sunny position. Considering the baobabs natural environment, they will need as much light as possible.

Make sure that winter temperatures do not drop below 10 degrees Celsius. If this is likely then the Baobab will need to be brought in under temperature controlled protection such as the sunniest room in the house or a heated greenhouse.