Baobab Dry Savanna

Baobab Dry Savanna is an original illustration set in Western Madagascar. It lies in the tropics, where the climate is tropical savanna — a pronounced dry season.

A huge smooth swollen bottle-shaped trunk splits into sparse root-like crown branches. Several smaller baobabs repeat the silhouette behind. Tawny grass covers red earth, and the warm late-afternoon light rakes across the trunks.

Why is the baobab's trunk so swollen?

The trunk is a water tank — soft, fibrous wood holding tonnes of water through a dry season that can run most of the year. The crown looks like roots because the tree drops its leaves entirely once the water stops, standing bare for months. Red earth beneath tawny grass is deeply weathered tropical soil in the dry half of its cycle.

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