\Ad`an*so"ni*a\, n. [From Adanson, a French botanist.]
(Bot.)
A genus of great trees related to the Bombax. There are two
species, {A. digitata}, the baobab or monkey-bread of Africa
and India, and {A. Gregorii}, the sour gourd or
cream-of-tartar tree of Australia. Both have a trunk of
moderate height, but of enormous diameter, and a
wide-spreading head. The fruit is oblong, and filled with
pleasantly acid pulp. The wood is very soft, and the bark is
used by the natives for making ropes and cloth. --D. C.
Eaton.