Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1901 — An Extraordinary Tree. [ARTICLE]

An Extraordinary Tree.

In the Congo region there is a most remarkable tree, of which Europeans had often heard, but of which they had never seen a picture until a few days ago, when several photographs of it, which were taken by order of the Congo Government, arrived in Paris, Berlin and London. The tree is known as the baobab of Kinschassa, and, it is believed to oe the largest tree of its kind in all Africa. Kinschassa is on the Congo railroad, about an hour and a half’s ride from Leopoldville, and is a flourishing place, having several factories and an English mission. The banks of the Stanley Pool are low at this point and several huge baobabs grow ch them. The natives call tnese monsters “monkey’s bread trees,” and their scientific name is “Adansonia digitata.” The monarch of them all, which has just been photographed, is over thirty feet in circumference, yet, strange to say, it is hardly thirty feet in height. Its gigantic branches are leafless and withered, and the trunk itself has for many years shown signs of decay. Indeed, it is quite hollow on one side, and It is evident that it cannot survive much longer. At the foot its growth has been abundant, as can be seen from the great breadth and solidity, not only of the main trunk, but also of Its numerous offshoots.