The Mysterious Life of Baobab Flowers
Nothing excites me more than being involved in baobab research and I’d rather be in the bush studying baobab trees than in the office in front of a computer any day! So I was very happy to host Nisa Karimi, a graduate student from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is being funded through a USAid fellowship to study baobab flower pollination.
How are baobab flowers pollinated?
Nisa’s work follows research that I initiated in 2014 to establish what the main pollinators of baobab flowers are in the South African population of baobab trees. She spent the whole month of November last year here, during which she spent most nights and days sitting in baobab trees watching for bats, hawk moths, bees and anything else that might visit the flowers. Her research will be a valuable contribution to our understanding of fruit production which in turn has benefits to supporting rural livelihoods. As soon as her research becomes available, I’ll be sure to share it with you.
Here she is – in her delightful working environment!
