''Adansonia suarezensis'', the Suarez baobab, is an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

species of ''

Adansonia ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. It is locally called "bozy" (pronounced "boojy"), the common name used for all baobabs in northern Madagascar.Baum, D.A., 1995, A Systematic Revision of Adansonia (Bombacaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden , 1995, Vol. 82, No. 3 (1995), pp. 440-471

Description

''Adansonia suarezensis'' is a large tree up to tall, with a cylindrical trunk to in diameter. The bark is smooth and greyish-brown and a photosynthetic greenish layer can be seen underneath. The short, thick branches project horizontally from high on the trunk forming a horizontal crown. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are palmate with 6 to 9 leaflets, yellowish-green, untoothed and deciduous. Large white

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s, drying to reddish brown, are produced after the leaves have fallen. They open at dusk and the reproductive phase is over by dawn. Flowers are pollinated by

fruit bats In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

. Flowering occurs in late May to early July. Dangling, elongated

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

that can weigh as much as . are ripe by November.

Distribution and habitat

''Adansonia suarezensis'' grows in the northern tip of the island of Madagascar near

Antsiranana Bay Antsiranana Bay (also known as Diego-Suarez Bay) is a natural bay that stretches close to north to south along the northeast coast of Madagascar. The waters average a depth of more than , and the main channel can be as deep as . The bay, protecte ...

. A further population has been found growing between the

Ankarana Reserve Ankarana Special Reserve in northern Madagascar was created in 1956. It is a small, partially vegetated plateau composed of 150-million-year-old middle Jurassic limestone. With an average annual rainfall of about , the underlying rocks have been e ...

and the Analamerana Reserve in the Forest of Mahory. Its typical habitat is deciduous woodland in limestone areas but it also grows in disturbed scrub.

Ecology

The flowers are strong smelling and produce copious nectar and are visited by bees, moths and sunbirds but none of these are big enough to pollinate it. At times of year when fruit is not available, the

Madagascan fruit bat The Madagascan fruit bat (''Eidolon dupreanum'') is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to Madagascar and is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN because it is hunted as bushmeat. Distribution and habitat ''Eidolon dupreanu ...

feeds on nectar and has been observed to visit the flowers of ''A. suarezensis'' and the kapok tree ''

Ceiba pentandra ''Ceiba pentandra'' is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety ''C. pentandr ...

''. This bat is believed to be a significant

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

of the flowers of these trees.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

lists ''A. suarezensis'' as "

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

" in the

Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

. This is because little natural regeneration has been observed except in the Mahory Forest, and populations are small and fragmented. Numbers are declining, as trees are cleared for urban development, agriculture and grazing or cut for timber and charcoal. No Madagascan animals have been identified as dispersing the seed of this tree.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q141812 suarezensis Endangered plants Flora of the Madagascar dry deciduous forests Endemic flora of Madagascar Taxa named by Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie