Pollination control strongly suggests self-compatibility in some genotypes of baobab

Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) is an important wild tree of African origin, which is currently attracting wide domestication interest. Flower polymorphism, which is observed on baobab trees, raises great interest in understanding the phenomenon and its subsequent effects on reproduction in this species. The objective of this study was to examine whether baobab with pre-anthesis cleistogamous flowers could self- fertilise, as a means of overcoming poor fruit set in the species. Two baobab trees, one with pre-anthesis cleistogamous and the other protogynous (stigma emerging before the anthers), were used for this experiment. There were four treatments; namely pre-anthesis cleistogamous tree with flowers covered with paper envelopes; pre-anthesis cleistogamous tree with flowers uncovered; protogynous tree with flowers covered; and protogynous tree with flowers uncovered. The protogynous tree with flowers covered did not produce fruit; while the other three treatments did. Analysis of variance on the number of fruits set revealed significant differences (P<0.05) among treatments. But there was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the uncovered flowers and their covered counterparts on the pre-anthesis cleistogamous tree. The difference was between the flowers that were covered on the protogynous tree and the other three treatments (pre-anthesis cleistogamous tree with flowers covered, pre-anthesis cleistogamous tree with flowers uncovered and protogynous tree with flowers uncovered). The fruits that developed on the three treatments produced viable seeds. This suggests that self-fertilisation occurred in flowers that were covered on the pre-anthesis cleistogamous tree.