Mike Thompson, age 10, of Baton Rouge, La., for his question:

WHAT IS MONKEY BREAD?

Monkey bread is the name of the fruit that is produced by an African tree called the baobab. The tree is now also now cultivated in other warm and tropical parts of the world.

The tree rarely grows to be taller than 60 feet but its trunk may measure a massive 30 to 50 feet in diameter. Not too many other trees in the world have trunks as huge as the baobab's.

Often some of the tree's branches are as thick as the trunks of other large trees. The foliage forms a hemispherical mass that is often 150 feet in diameter.

The monkey bread hangs down from the tree like lanterns on long, ropy stems. Before the fruit develops, there are purple and white flowers.

The fruit holds seeds buried in a mealy pulp. Monkeys and some people use this pulp for food. It is also used as a flavoring for cool drinks.

Baobab leaves are sometimes used in medicines and fibers from the bark are used to make paper, cloth and rope. The tree lives to an old age.