Little Prince's magic? Tropical baobab flowers for first time here
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/ Yonhap
By Woo Ji-won, Park Si-soo
A baobab tree, a tropical plant that became widely known through Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s famous novel “The Little Prince,” is blossoming for the first time in South Korea.
The tree produced white flowers, the National Institute of Ecology said Tuesday. The baobab is in a botanical garden in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province, where the temperature, humidity and other climate elements are tightly controlled. Linking the unprecedented flowering to climate warming is misleading, the institute said.
“This is a very meaningful event, since the tree is held sacred as the ‘Tree of Life’ in Africa,” institute head Lee Hee-chul said.
It usually takes more than 20 years for a baobab tree to flower. But it is hard to spot the flowers because the buds wither two to three days after pollination.
The institute considered the flowering as a sign the tree has adapted to its surroundings.
Baobab trees are planted in the Korea National Arboretum in Pocheon, the Yeomiji Botanical Garden on Jeju Island, the Gyeongju East Palace Garden, Suncheon Bay National Garden and the Daejeon Hanbat Arboretum.