Sudden death of most of Africa’s largest baobabs
The Zimbabwean sacred baobab, Panke, was more than 2,400 years old when all its stems toppled and died in 2010-11. It is one of a number of ancient African baobabs that have died since 2017 across southern Africa, according to new research published in Nature Plants. The region is home to the oldest and largest African baobabs. Baobabs have broad trunks, or multiple stems coming out of the ground. When they are not flowering, these iconic trees’ branches resemble roots reaching into the sky.
Nine of the 13 oldest and five of the six largest African baobabs have died, or their main stems collapsed.
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