Big Tree at Victoria Falls
The Big Tree at Victoria Falls is a large baobab of the species Adansonia digitata in Zimbabwe, close to Victoria Falls. It has sometimes been called Livingstone's Tree. It measures 22.40 metres in girth (2004) and is 24 metres tall (1985), unusually large for a baobab.
The explorer and missionary David Livingstone, who discovered Victoria Falls and named it for his queen, in 1885 carved his name into a boabab tree on an island (Garden Island) above the precipice of the waterfall.
Big Tree is roughly 2 km from the river, the falls, and the island where Livingstone arrived in a makoro dugout canoe, made landfall, and wrote his records. Apart from being the best known, this tree is possibly the oldest and biggest baobab in Zimbabwe. Some similar trees were lost by the flooding further downstream that occurred when Kariba Dam was finished in 1956. Unlike the animals rescued and saved by Operation Noah during the flooding, the trees had to stay where they were, many were bulldozed so they would not become underwater hazards.
Big Tree may be about 2000 years old based on girth and growth ring data collected from other trees. However, it is deeply incised and there is speculation that it may be three tree trunks (or trees) and it may be considerably younger.
Conservation
Big Tree is protected by Museums and National Monuments of Zimbabwe under whose jurisdiction it falls (not National Parks of Zimbabwe). Over previous years name-carvers have left their mark on the tree but the tree is now protected from these vandals by a fence.
Other giants
There are a number of other huge baobabs in Zimbabwe that may be larger (but are not as well known) including;
- Three Giants in the Save Conservancy (two of which are called twins due to their close proximity to each other)
- One huge tree at Nkayi
- One in Gona-Re-Zhou National Park
Kapok trees, with swollen trunks and also members of the family Malvaceae and the same order, are the baobab's "New World" equivalents. Kapoks are found in Peru and Brazil, South America. As introduced exotic trees they flourish in Zimbabwe, some achieving great heights, probably taller than in their native habitats. There is one notable tree in Borrowdale Shopping Centre, Harare, and several (including a group of four) in the city parks of Mutare.
References
- Mullins L J, 2004, Historic Trees of Zimbabwe, CBC Publishing