Boab Tree
July 10th 2006 05:57
The Boab Tree
I was brought up in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and one of the few scattered memories I have of the place from early childhood is of the Boab Tree. These trees are remarkable, and so I thought I should share a little about the role it plays in the Western Australian landscape, and in the hearts of Australians living in the West.
The boab tree actually belongs in the family Malvaceae. It is recognisable by it's swollen trunk, which gives it a bottle-like appearance and an odd presence in the Kimberley as an often solid figure in the ephemeral shading and half-light of the bush. The base of the trunk can grow to over 5 metres wide!
It is the only Boab to occur in Australia, and is restricted to the Kimberley region in Western Australia, and the east of the Northern Territory. Other species occur in Madagascar and Africa.
This tree has many names also. Australians use the name boab (short for baobab) for the Australian species, although this name technically refres to the genus of the plant as a whole. It is also known as the bottle tree, and the dead rat tree.
Indigenous Australians often call it gadawon, and larrgadi or larrgadiy, which is widespread in the Nyulnyulan languages of the Western Kimberley.
Aborigines often obtain water from the hollows in the tree, and use the white powder in the seed pods as a food source. The leaves are also used medicinally. There is also an unlikely usage in the famous Derby Prison Tree from the 1890s, in which the hollow trunk of a tree was used as a prison cell for Aboriginal prisoners on their way to Derby in Western Australia.
The Boab plays a role in the hearts and minds of most every Western Australian, and the Indigenous peoples from this part of our land. It is tied up in the folklore and history of the place, in the memories and stories that survive generations. Ever read Tim Winton? Try his novel 'Dirt Music'; that is a good example of it's presence in the consciousness of white people from WA.
Thanks to wikipedia for the reference points, and the images.
The boab tree actually belongs in the family Malvaceae. It is recognisable by it's swollen trunk, which gives it a bottle-like appearance and an odd presence in the Kimberley as an often solid figure in the ephemeral shading and half-light of the bush. The base of the trunk can grow to over 5 metres wide!
It is the only Boab to occur in Australia, and is restricted to the Kimberley region in Western Australia, and the east of the Northern Territory. Other species occur in Madagascar and Africa.
This tree has many names also. Australians use the name boab (short for baobab) for the Australian species, although this name technically refres to the genus of the plant as a whole. It is also known as the bottle tree, and the dead rat tree.
Indigenous Australians often call it gadawon, and larrgadi or larrgadiy, which is widespread in the Nyulnyulan languages of the Western Kimberley.
Boab tree at Derby
The Boab plays a role in the hearts and minds of most every Western Australian, and the Indigenous peoples from this part of our land. It is tied up in the folklore and history of the place, in the memories and stories that survive generations. Ever read Tim Winton? Try his novel 'Dirt Music'; that is a good example of it's presence in the consciousness of white people from WA.
Thanks to wikipedia for the reference points, and the images.
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