Adansonia gregorii
Adansonia gregorii, commonly known as the boab, is a tree in the family Malvaceae. As with other baobabs, it is easily recognised by the swollen base of its trunk, which forms a massive caudex, giving the tree a bottle-like appearance. Endemic to Australia, boab occurs in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and east into the Northern Territory. It is the only baobab to occur in Australia, the others being native to Madagascar (six species) and mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (one species). Boab ranges from 5 to 15 metres in height, usually between 9 and  12 metres, with a broad bottle-shaped trunk. Its trunk base may be extremely large; trunks with a diameter of over five metres have been recorded. "A. gregorii" is deciduous, losing its leaves during the dry winter period and producing new leaves and large white flowers between December and May. Boabs are pollinated by the convolvulus hawk-moth "Agrius convolvuli". Alternative names. The common name "boab" is a shortened form of the generic common name "baobab". Although boab is the most widely recognised common name, "Adansonia gregorii" has a number of other common names, including: The specific name "gregorii" honours  the Australian explorer Augustus Gregory. Uses. The plant has a wide variety of uses; most parts are edible and it is the source of a number of materials. Its medicinal products and the ability to store water through dry seasons has been exploited. Indigenous Australians obtained water from hollows in the tree, and used the white powder that fills the seed pods as a food. Decorative paintings or carvings were sometimes made on the outer surface of the fruit. The leaves were used medicinally. The leaves may see a future use prepared as food, due to their high iron content . The 1889 book 'Useful native plants of Australia' states that "The dry acidulous pulp of the fruit is eaten. It has an agreeable taste, like cream of tartar. Notable trees. A large hollow boab south of Derby, Western Australia is reputed to have been used in the 1890s as a lockup for Aboriginal prisoners on their way to Derby for sentencing. The Boab Prison Tree, Derby is now a tourist attraction. Another hollow boab near Wyndham, Western Australia was also used as a prison tree. The Hillgrove Lockup or Wyndham Prison Tree is on the King River Road out of  Wyndham near the Moochalabra Dam. Gija Jumulu is a large boab which was transported from Warmun in the Kimberley region of Western Australia to Kings Park in 2008. Further to this, there is a boab tree located within the Wyndham, Western Australia caravan park that is of estimated age 2000 years, standing 20 metres tall and with a trunk 5 metres wide. The boab tree is celebrated in the end credits of the 2008 film "Australia" with the song "By the Boab Tree", a song nominated for a 2008 Satellite Award, with lyrics by Baz Luhrmann and performed by Sydney  singer Angela Little. A massive boab tree, similar in appearance to the aforementioned prison tree, is also featured in the 1992 animated film "" to imprison the film's antagonist, Hexxus. In popular culture. In the 1992 animated film, FernGully, the primary antagonist is trapped in a boab tree. References. Works cited