The Collaborative International Dictionary
Adansonia \Ad`an*so"ni*a\, n. [From Adanson, a French botanist.]
(Bot.)
A genus of great trees related to the Bombax. There are two
species, Adansonia digitata, the baobab or monkey-bread of
Africa and India, and Adansonia Gregorii, the sour gourd or
cream-of-tartar tree of Australia. Both have a trunk of
moderate height, but of enormous diameter, and a
wide-spreading head. The fruit is oblong, and filled with
pleasantly acid pulp. The wood is very soft, and the bark is
used by the natives for making ropes and cloth.
--D. C.
Eaton.
[1913 Webster] ||
Monkey-bread \Mon"key-bread`\, n. (Bot.) The fruit of the Adansonia digitata; also, the tree. See Adansonia.
Baobab \Ba"o*bab\ (b[=a]"[-o]*b[a^]b or b[aum]"[-o]*b[a^]b), n. [The native name.] (Bot.) A gigantic African tree ( Adansonia digitata), also naturalized in India. See Adansonia.
Wikipedia
Adansonia digitata (baobab) is the most widespread of the Adansonia species, and is native to the African continent. The long-lived pachycauls are typically found in dry, hot savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa, where they dominate the landscape, and reveal the presence of a watercourse from afar. Their growth rate is determined by ground water or rainfall, and their maximum age, which is subject to much conjecture, seems to be in the order of 1,500 years. They have traditionally been valued as sources of food, water, health remedies or places of shelter and are steeped in legend and superstition. Explorers of old were inclined to carve their names on baobabs, and many are defaced by modern graffiti. Common names for the baobab include dead-rat tree (from the appearance of the fruit), monkey-bread tree (the soft, dry fruit is edible), upside-down tree (the sparse branches resemble roots), cream of tartar tree ( cream of tartar) and गोरख चिंच in marathi (meaning monkey's tamarind).
Usage examples of "adansonia digitata".
Yet when this great man, after whom Linnaeus himself named the baobab tree Adansonia digitata, was invited to become a member of the Institute a little before I had the honour of addressing it, he did not possess a whole shirt nor yet an untorn pair of breeches in which he could attend, still less a coat, God rest his soul.