The Boab Tree
Pat Lowe

That ‘colossus of the bush’, the boab tree, has long intrigued visitors to the Kimberley. Where did it come from? How long does it live?

With its strong branches and gnarled trunk, the boab is a minor ecosystem, providing shade and shelter for other lives. Native bees and bagmoths, lizards and nesting birds, cattle and human beings, the boab embraces them all. Some aged boabs bear scars from long-past visitors: Aboriginal engravings, Muslim prayer alcoves, the name of a ship, the trace of an explorers’ camp, a desperate message to absent comrades.

Pat Lowe is a keen observer of the natural world. In this book she takes us through the science and history of the boab and into a realm of stories about the Kimberley’s most beloved tree.

About the Author:
Pat Lowe is a writer and psychologist who grew up in England. She taught at secondary schools in France and East Africa and has spent more than half her life in Western Australia. She met Jimmy Pike when she was working as a psychologist at Broome Prison, and later joined him at his desert camp, where the pair stayed for three years, before moving to Broome. Pat has written a dozen books, many of them in collaboration with Jimmy.