Madagascar or Boabab trees

[steamshovel]

I saw a picture of a Madagascar tree and I was impressed by how tall it is and the caption said fire proof! What does the wood look like, I wonder if it would make a good pen? And where does this beauty grow, I wish I had one in my pasture.

 

[toddlajoie]

Madagascar, Africa, Arabian Peninsula and Austrialia...

I don't know if the ones that grow in those places are fireproof, but Animal Kingdom in Florida has them in their wild animal reserves, and they ARE fireproof... Of course their's are made of rebar and concrete, so that may play a part in that...

 

[Cmiles1985]

That's a very unique looking tree! I just did a google image search for them, and they're very unique. The wood almost looks like an oak. It must be a rather prized tree as one has recently been carbon dated to about 6,000 years old. Cool find!

 

[Monty]

They also grow in Africa and Australia. The African one is very protected, from what I understand.

 

[lorbay]

I made one similar to that one. Not as tall though. Lol
Lin

 

[Ed McDonnell]

Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami has Boabab trees. The trees absorb a lot of water and swell up during the rainy season to tide them over the dry season. Maybe they are like palms. The outer edges of the trunk can produce small bits suitable for turning, but the large core is spongy and not very good for turning. They seem pretty sturdy and haven't come down in any hurricanes (so no wood has been available for turning (that I know of anyway)).

Ed

 

[sbwertz]

Here in AZ we have Australian Bottle Trees (Brachychiton populneus, called Kurrajong in Australia). They, too, hold water in their trunks like the Boabab trees of Africa do. The wood is very spongy, and if you hit the trunk with an axe, it sprays water all over you! We had to cut down two of them some years ago. Messy trees, too. They drop big seed pods all over everything.

 

[BSea]

Here in AZ we have Australian Bottle Trees (Brachychiton populneus, called Kurrajong in Australia). They, too, hold water in their trunks like the Boabab trees of Africa do. The wood is very spongy, and if you hit the trunk with an axe, it sprays water all over you! We had to cut down two of them some years ago. Messy trees, too. They drop big seed pods all over everything.

You can almost hear the casters drooling over having you send them seed pods.