The baobabs, totaling about a dozen species, are native to the hot dry savannas in Africa, Madagascar and northern Australia. The name baobab is taken from the Swahili language where it is also called the Mbuyu tree. Other common names include boab, boaboa, bottle tree and monkey bread tree. The species reach heights of 5–30 m and trunk diameters of 7-11 m. It is also one of the longest lived trees in the world; radio-carbon dating has measured ages of over 2,000 years.