Tree from Madagascar to Madurai
“They have been standing for 130 years and are as old as the Main Hall,” informs Professor M. Rajesh about the baobab trees inside The American College campus. The trees identified as a native of the Madagascar Island in Africa, are a century-old legacy left behind by the American missionaries. Baobabs are huge tropical trees that live for thousands of years and grow over 18 metres in girth. It’s awe-inspiring to see a real old baobab, the trunk of which looks like a monstrous pillar and the branches spread out like giant fingers. The temple city has four of this rare tree – three of them stand tall inside the college and there is one at the High court. “The tree at the court is relatively younger,” says Rajesh, who also suggests that the oldest Baobab perhaps is the one near the staff quarters inside the college campus. It is much bigger with a trunk so huge that it takes eight people to hug the tree. “It should have been planted during the time of W.M. Zumbro from the firs...