The biggest succulent I have ever seen!

I learned something new. The Baobab is not a tree in the usual sense; it is a succulent. Or anyway it is a tree that behaves like a giant succulent in that up to 80% of the trunk is water. Because of this, the San nomads relied on the baobab as a valuable source of water when the rains failed and the rivers dried. A single tree can hold up to 4,500 litres (1,189 gallons). The bark and flesh are soft, fibrous and fire-resistant too.

I learned this at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which also refers to the baobab in the middle of its conservatory as an "upside-down tree." Legend has it that the tree was lording itself over the lesser plants and so offended God that He uprooted it and planted it again upside down to stop its boasting. Ouch! Let that be a lesson to you. The baobab remains in leaf for only a very short time each year and if you look at its branches bare of leaves, its easy to see how the legend grew. And grew and grew and grew ... That is the biggest succulent I have ever seen!