This species of Baobab is an iconic tree native to Africa. It is thorn-less, with a bulky, bulbous or bottle-shaped trunk. In appearance, it looks like a leafy Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) that lacks spines. A mature Baobab appears to some to look like an ‘upside-down’ tree – a tree pulled out from the ground and replanted with its roots up in the air. It is well known that its flowers open at night and are pollinated by bats.

In its native range, it flowers often, but fruits infrequently. Once it reaches around 30 or 40 years of age, the trunk begins to swell disproportionately to the size of its crown, often reaching 17 m in girth. This species is known to reach about 47 m in girth after 1,000 years, and the age of the largest Baobabs has been estimated at several thousand years.

This Heritage Tree is a relatively young specimen, close to 30 years of age at the time of its endorsement in 2016. It is likely to be one of the few rare Baobabs grown from seed in Singapore.