What is a boab tree?
The boab is a tree of Western Australia's Kimberley region and nearby parts of the Northern Territory, famous for its swollen, bottle-shaped trunk that stores water through the dry season.
Boabs, Adansonia gregorii, are related to the baobabs of Africa and Madagascar. They lose their leaves in the dry season and grow new ones in the wet, when they also produce large white flowers.
Some boabs are thought to be over a thousand years old. Their trunks can be more than 20 metres around.
The Prison Tree
Near Derby and Wyndham, large hollow boabs are known as prison trees, though historians question whether they were really used to hold prisoners.
Aboriginal people ate boab seeds, pulp and roots, and carved patterns into the nuts.
Boabs are a common sight along the Gibb River Road and around towns such as Kununurra, Broome and Derby, where they are planted in parks and streets. They are also transplanted from development sites, and mature boabs have even been moved by truck to Perth, including one to Kings Park in 2008.
The trees are an important cultural symbol of the Kimberley, and carved boab nuts are sold as Aboriginal art. Their leaves, flowers and young roots are edible, and the pulp around the seeds has a tangy taste.
Did You Know?
Australia's boab is the only baobab species native to the continent.