A biological fortress
The Australian boab (Adansonia gregorii) is a biological oddity, one of only a few baobab species found outside of Africa and Madagascar. It is endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. These trees are defined by their massive, bottle-shaped trunks which can store over 100,000 liters of water to survive the long dry season. As a deciduous tree, it loses its leaves during this dry period, producing new foliage and large, white flowers between December and May. The flowers open at night and are often pollinated by the convolvulus hawk-moth.
The specific tree near Derby has a trunk circumference of over 14 meters. Radiocarbon dating suggests it is approximately 1,250 years old. A common characteristic of older boabs is the hollowing of their trunks, which occurs when the soft, spongy inner tissue dies off. Before European colonization, this particular tree was a culturally significant site for local Aboriginal people, including the Nyikina and Warrwa. In 1916, anthropologist Herbert Basedow noted it was used as a shelter and as an ossuary — a place to store the bones of the dead.