Baobab
The great water-storing tree of the African savannah, whose enormous white flowers open at dusk and are dead by the following afternoon. They are pollinated by fruit bats and hawkmoths rather than by bees, so honey bees work them in the early morning — taking nectar from a flower that owes them nothing.
Value to bees
- Nectar
- High
- Pollen
- High
- As a honey crop
- Minor honey crop — a surplus only locally or occasionally
- Which bees, and why
- Baobab flowers are built for fruit bats and hawkmoths, opening at dusk and closing by the next afternoon. Bees work them in the early morning before they close, which is a clear case of a bee exploiting a relationship it played no part in evolving.
- Worth knowing
- A good nectar and pollen source for the brief period the flowers are open.
Flowering
- In flower
- October to December (southern hemisphere)
A short flowering at the start of the rains, and each flower lasts a single night.
- When nectar flows
- Substantial per flower — the blooms are enormous and hold a great deal of nectar to attract bats.
- Year-to-year variation
- Limited by the trees being scattered rather than dense. A genuine monofloral is scarce.
What it does to the honey
Contributes a bright tangy citrus-sherbet lift over caramel, genuinely reminiscent of the tree's own fruit.
Growing it
- Conditions
- Full sun on free-draining savannah soil with a pronounced dry season. Extremely drought-tolerant, storing water in the trunk.
- Size
- 5-25 m tall, with trunks reaching over 10 m in diameter and ages estimated in the many centuries.
- Native range
- The dry savannah belt of sub-Saharan Africa, and separate species in Madagascar and northwestern Australia.
- Suits
- Large gardens
- Grown as a curiosity container plant in temperate climates, where it stays small and drops its leaves in winter.
- Extremely long-lived and extremely slow-growing.
- Regeneration is poor across much of its African range — old trees stand and few young ones replace them.
What it looks like
An unmistakable tree with a vastly swollen trunk, often several metres across, and short thick branches that look like roots. The flowers are pendulous, white and up to 20 cm across, with a mass of stamens.
Sources
- HoneyHQ editorial synthesis — HEKNO Ltd · HoneyHQ synthesis
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.
Guides covering this plant
- The best honey for savoury cookingIn savoury cooking honey is doing three jobs at once — sweetening, browning and balancing acid — and the honeys that do them best are the ones nobody wants on toast.
- Fruity honeysA small group of honeys that taste recognisably of fruit — sometimes of the fruit their own plant produces, which is a coincidence worth understanding.
Tools for planning planting
- Flowering calendar
What should I plant so that something is always in flower for bees?
- Bee-friendly garden planner
What should I plant in the space I actually have?
- Plant recommendation tool
Which plant fills this specific gap?