Largest Boab Tree

The Boab trees are everywhere in the Kimberley, some were even used as prisons. At the Wyndham Caravan Park there is the a huge boab tree that is billed as “Largest Boab Tree in Captivity”. Located in the park the boab is believed to be over 2,000 years old. It has a height of 25metres.

The leaves, roots and seeds as a nutritious food source; the inner bark for rope, baskets and nets; the wood, which drips like a sponge when cut and squeezed, as a water source; the case of the nuts as a potent vitamin C supply; the hollowed trunks, which can grow as wide as 20 metres, for shelter. Boabs are also revered by Indigenous communities as wise spirits, that are treated with deep respect.

The boab tree (Adansonia gregorii) is endemic to the northern regions of Western Australia (Kimberley region) and into the top of the Northern Territory. The common name for the genus as a whole is the baboab, with many calling it a bottle tree. The one in the it is the only native one in Australia, others are in Madagascar and on the African continent. It is a deciduous tree and it looses it leaves during the dry winter months. It is a slow growing tree and can take hundreds of years to reach a large size.Read more