My favorite tree in the Bombay Port Trust garden at Colaba (popularly known as Sagar Upvan, established by eminent industrialist and staunch conservationist Sohrabji Godrej) was the "baubab” (baobab) which collapsed in the storm of August 5 this year. Of African origin, dominating the savanna landscape, the species was introduced in India by the Arabs and the Portuguese. The botanical name of the baobab is Adansonia digitata; the generic name was given to perpetuate the memory of the botanist Adanson and the specific epithet digitata bears reference to the palm-like digitate (divisions akin to a bird’s foot) leaves. Known for......