Baobab Friday

This is A. digitata:


This is A. digitata a week ago:


Don't worry about the change in colour, that's just because one was shot in the sun and the other in the shade. Other than that... Er... I think the two inside leaves have gotten bigger. Right? Right?

And this is A. za:


And A. za a week ago:


?? Note to self: shoot baobabs from the same angle each week. But if you look closely, you can see that it has a true leaf starting to grow. Or... Actually, you can't see it in this angle. Let me clarify:


For those who don't know, plants have two "baby leaves" which come right out of the seed, but then they start growing "true leaves". You can see on Digitata the two big, chewed up leaves which are baby leaves, and the very thin ones coming up in between are true leaves.

For greater clarity, I decided to start a log of the baobabs' height and spread, thusly:


I don't think Za 1 is really taller than Digitata 1, the leaves are just pointing up instead of spreading. So based on Digitata 1's growth of 1 inch in 26 days, that gives us a growth rate of 0.36 m / year, which will then take 70 years to reach 25 m, or five years to reach the ceiling.

Other than not growing very fast, which is probably a good thing, they're looking well. They've been allowed to stay on the balcony days and nights for a while because the weather has been nice, but if there is a storm I'll bring them back in. This way they're in the sunniest possible location, where they're getting something like 8 hours a day right now. Not much for a baobab, but that's the best this balcony has to offer.

The other seeds, which were not boiled, are giving no sign of life whatsoever, but the supplier did say "three weeks to six months", so that doesn't mean anything. I haven't dug to look at them. Since I already have two healthy-looking specimens and more seeds in reserve, I don't see the point in disturbing the other seeds.

Now these trees need names. I'm open to suggestions, but let's stay away from tacky stuff like The Lion King, yes?

I considered naming them after my stalker and his brother, simply because that's one set of two names that comes to my mind easily. On the other hand, it would be really creepy to have a tree named after my stalker looming over me every night as I sleep. Conversely, it would be really creepy for the brother to find out I named a tree after him.

Or, considering how I named the mayday trees, I could name these guys from my current reading. I'm reading World Prehistory in New Perspective by Grahame Clark, which doesn't really lend itself, and the Bible. The Bible seems rather apt for baobabs, doesn't it? There are no baobabs in the Bible, per se, but they do have mighty cedars. How about apostles? Peter and Paul? Oh, I like that, it connects them to my Russian roots in a roundabout way. Or James the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus? Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot? Haha, I crack me up.

No... I think prophets are better. How about Damascus and Gaza? Too obscure? Ezekiel and Isaiah? I like Ezekiel and Isaiah. But then again, would naming my trees after prophets be bad for my "relationship luck"? I always think, if a guy would come in here looking for some, he'd be pretty creeped out by all the crazy vegetation. And if that fails, I also have a really psychotic-looking sleeper doll. So suppose the guy comes in here and finds out my trees are named (that's bad enough, really) after 1) Christian virtues, 2) Chinese dictators and 3) prophets? I'd never hear from him again. Then again, knowing guys here, I doubt any of these would ring a bell anyway.

Hmmmmm.... Think think think.

Well, I guess Ezekiel and Isaiah are the front runners so far, but like I said, I'm open to suggestions, if anyone has any.

And this concludes Baobab Friday for this week.