Adansonia perrieri
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| Adansonia perrieri in Darwin Botanic Gardens | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Genus: | Adansonia |
| Species: | A. perrieri |
| Binomial name | |
| Adansonia perrieri | |
Adansonia perrieri, or Perrier’s baobab, is a critically endangered species of deciduous tree, in the genus Adansonia. This species is endemic to northern Madagascar.[1] It has been documented in only 10 locations, including the Ankarana, Ampasindava, Loky Manambato and Montagne d’Ambre protected areas. Most populations, however, are outside of protected areas. Each location has few individuals (the largest subpopulation has 43 trees). With an estimated population of fewer than 250 mature individuals and ongoing habitat decline due to fire and cutting for charcoal and timber or clearing for mining, this species has been assessed by IUCN as Critically Endangered.[1] There are three species of baobab found in northern Madagascar, all sharing the common name “bozy”
Perrier’s baobab is a medium to large deciduous tree, growing to 30 m tall, occurring in evergreen rainforests and forming an important component of dry deciduous forest. The trunk is roughly cylindrical and the bark a smooth, pale grey. Baobab trees have two types of shoots – long, green vegetative ones, and stout, woody reproductive ones.
Leaves. This is a deciduous tree, with leaves throughout the wet season (November to April) but none in the dry season. Leaves are palmately compound in mature trees, with 5 to 11 leaflets. Stipules occur at the base of the leaves, are triangular or linear and up to 15 mm long. In most baobabs, stipules are soon shed, but they are persistent in A. perrieri.
Flowers. Baobabs have large, showy flowers that in Perrier’s baobab emerge with or just before the leaves, flowering from November to December. Flowers are born near the tips of reproductive shoots, The flowers are reproductive for a maximum of 15 hours. They open around dusk; opening so quickly that movement can be detected by the naked eye and are faded by the next morning. The flower is made up of an outer 5-lobed calyx, and an inner ring of petals set around a fused tube of stamens. Flowers of Perrier’s baobab are pollinated primarily by long-tongued hawkmoths
Fruits. The fruits are large (up to 25 cm long), oblong to egg-shaped and berry-like. They are ripe in October and November. They have a tough 8–9 mm thick outer wall and hold kidney-shaped seeds in a dry, pulpy matrix. The fruits are buoyant and at least in some populations may be dispersed by floating along water courses.
Fruits are collected for their edible pulp,[2] and trees are cut for charcoal or timber.[1]
Taxonomy[edit]
The specific Latin epithet of perrieri refers to the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie (1873–1958), who studied plants in Madagascar.[3] It was first described and published in Notul. Syst. (Paris) Vol.16 on page 66 in 1960.
Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie (11 August 1873 – 2 October 1958) was a French botanist who specialized in the plants of Madagascar. He is the nephew of Eugène Pierre Perrier de la Bâthie, (1825-1916), another botanist,[1] who also collected plants with him.
The orchid genus Neobathiea (originally Bathiea) was named in his honor, as was the indriid lemur Perrier’s sifaka (Propithecus perrieri). He has other plant genera named in his honour. Such as in 1905, botanist Lucien Désiré Joseph Courchet published Perriera, a genus of flowering plants from Madagascar, belonging to the family Simaroubaceae. Then in 1915, botanist Hochr. published Perrierophytum, a genus of flowering plants from Mozambique and Madagascar, belonging to the family Malvaceae. In 1924, A.Camus published Perrierbambus,a bamboo in the grass family. In 1951, Alberto Judice Leote Cavaco published Perrierodendron is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Sarcolaenaceae. Then finally in 1978, (A.Berger) H.Ohba published Perrierosedum, succulent plants of the family Crassulaceae.
Several species of Madagascar plants were also named for him, including Adenia perrieri, Adansonia perrieri (or Perrier’s baobab), Erythrina perrieri, Ensete perrieri, Euphorbia perrieri, Gereaua perrieri, Jumelleanthus perrieri Hochr.,[11] Melanophylla perrieri, Podocarpus perrieri, Takhtajania perrieri, (originally named Bubbia perrieri) and Xerosicyos perrieri.