Going nuts for boabs!
Words in this article are by Melissa Connell
Could there be a tree that better represents the character of the Kimberley than the boab? Scattered throughout the savannah or neatly landscaped into gardens and streetscapes, the boab has a commanding presence wherever it grows.
Name: Boab
Scientific Classification: Adansonia Gregorii
Alternative Names: Australian baobab, bottle tree, gouty stem tree
Like many long-term local residents of the Kimberley, boabs are resilient. Deciduous by nature, they survive prolonged periods of heat and humidity and they adapt to many months without rain, storing water in their fibrous trunks. In the Kimberley, only the tough survive and there’s no tolerance for ego or pride. Ancient Aboriginal Dreamtime stories tell of how the boab was once arrogant and proud so the spirits plucked it from the earth and re-planted it upside-down. Indeed, a boab tree in the middle of the Dry Season, parched and naked of leaf, does look a bit like an upside-down tree; it’s spindly fingers resembling tree roots reaching into the space beyond.
Amazingly, the native people of Madagascar have a similar traditional story for their baobab, a tree which is kin to the Australian boab and similar in appearance.
Boabs are endemic to Western Australia’s Kimberley region and the Victoria River region of the Northern Territory. Despite their prolific numbers in the Kimberley, and their iconic appearance, many Aussies have no idea what a boab is, or that they grow right here in Australia. On a few occasions I’ve had friends from the eastern states visit and they’ve been completely mystified upon seeing their first boab, staring in wonder or mistakenly calling them baobabs.
The boab is treasured for its many practical uses, and revered for its almost-spiritual presence. Anyone who has ever slept in a swag beneath a boab can testify to this. One of the Kimberley’s greatest vistas is a boab silhouetted against the evening sky. Boabs at night, an astrophotographer’s delight! They come in many shapes and sizes; some fat, some tall, some with branches reaching up to heaven and some with heavy, bulbous limbs drooping to the ground. Growing to 1500 years and older, they are Australia’s oldest living beings.
The Miriwoong word for boab is Gerdewoon. They can be ngerregoowoong (big) and joorrgooyileng (tall). You can daj (crack) it and jangeb (eat) the mayeng biligirrimawoong (pith).” – Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring
The Miriwoong people traditionally used boabs (Gerdewoon) for food, water, medicine and shelter. Their fruit is edible and, in fact, it’s really high in Vitamin C. Though, it’s unlikely that you’ll see boab on many mainstream menus anytime soon, as there is only a small commercial industry for them. Despite their superfood qualities, most Aussies are more likely to eat an acai berry that’s travelled thousands of kilometres from Brazil than boab fruit that grows right here in the Australian bush. Boab fruit has six times more vitamin C than an orange and it’s rich in other vitamins like Vitamin A, B1 and B2. It contains minerals like zinc, magnesium, iron and potassium and it’s got twice as much calcium as milk.
The easiest way to sample boab fruit is just to pluck a nut straight from the tree and crack it open (if there’s a branch hanging low enough to grab one, that is). Otherwise, pick up a freshly fallen nut from the ground. The powdery pith has a slight tangy flavour and an interesting texture. Mum loves to add it into her boab scone mix. You can also eat baby boab ‘tubers’, the tap root of the tree when it’s a seedling. They are harvested at around 6-8 weeks old. Peel them back and then eat them like you’d eat a carrot. You can eat the whole tuber, including the leaves. Why not add one into your salad? They taste sweet and they’re crunchy and crisp like a water chestnut.
Beyond food, the boab has been utilised for many purposes including making ropes and baskets from the fibrous bark; extracting red dye from the tree roots; providing shelter and boab nut carving, which is a popular local artform and a great souvenir. In the Eastern Kimberley, a boab tree 6km south of Derby is famously known as the ‘prison boab’ due to stories that it was once used as a temporary holding cell for indigenous prisoners. Indeed, the sometimes-hollow trunks of mature boabs can accommodate several people inside them. The Derby prison boab tree and the lesser-known Wyndham boab tree have become popular stops for tourists travelling the Kimberley. In Kununurra, the boab at the beginning of Packsaddle Road near the Victorian Highway is also hollow. You’ll often see cars parked with tourists taking photos and some bravely scrambling inside. I say ‘brave enough’ because the trunks are often inhabited by creepy crawlies.
Boabs truly are sentient beings. It’s impossible not to form a deep admiration for them. They have the familiar presence of an old friend, or a grandparent (in the case of the more mature trees). Indeed, there is no tree that better represents the character of the Kimberley than the boab.
This article also appears on the Slow Travel Network
