It is a genus of the family Malvaceae whose members are trees popularly known as baobab, bottle tree or monkey bread. It contains eight species, of which six grow on the island of Madagascar, and of the other two, the best known, Adansonia digitata, grows in continental Africa, and the least known and smallest, Adansonia gibbosa, in Australia. The etymology of the word "baobab" is unknown, although there are different theories, beautiful.