''Dendrosenecio adnivalis'' (synonym ''Senecio adnivalis'') is one of the giant groundsels of the mountains of Eastern Africa. ''D. adnivalis'' grows on the Rwenzori Mountains and on the Virunga Mountains in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Description

''Dendrosenecio adnivalis'' attains heights of tall, trunk can be 40 centimeters diameter and the pith diameter. The stems have 25 to 60 leaves densely packed in a rosette shape at the top. Old leaves are persistent, withered leaf-bases covering the stalk for 1 to 3 meters below the leaf-rosettes.

Leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

surfaces are elliptic to heart shaped and can be long and wide, hairy on the top and not hairy on the bottom. Branched clusters of flowers to tall and wide. The droopy flower heads have 9 to 20 ray florets, 16 millimeters long or no ray florets at all and 90 to 250 disc florets.

Distribution

The

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

is very wet; humid air is trapped by the mountains and rain falls on most days even in the drier months. Above 2500 meters (8,200 ft) clouds can persist for several days making the Rwenzori and the Virunga a wetter environment than the other

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

n mountains. ''Dendrosenecio adnivalis'' lives at altitudes of 3,000 to 3,800 meters (9,800 to 12,000 feet) on the Rwenzori Mountains with another giant groundsel, ''

Dendrosenecio johnstonii ''Dendrosenecio johnstonii'', formerly ''Senecio johnstonii'', is a species of giant groundsel found in the middle altitudes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. A recent botanical reclassification split off some species formerly in ''Senecio'', putti ...

''. ''D. adnivalis'' more common on the wetter soils. On the Virunga Mountains groves of ''Senecio stanleyi'' (''Dendrosenecio adnivalis'') grow after the tree heaths ('' Erica'' sp.) in clearings along with ''

Lobelia wollastonii ''Lobelia'' () is a genus of flowering plants comprising 415 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions.Huxley, A., ed. (1992 ...

'' until the altitude of 4,300 meters (14,000 feet) when vegetation becomes sparse.

Synonyms

The herbarium has all of the ''Dendrosenecio adnivalis'' specimens filed under ''Senecio johnstonii'' and indeed, one is probably a variety or subspecies of the other that adapted to live closer to water and on damper ground. A synonym for ''Senecio stanleyi'' is ''Dendrosenecio adnivalis'' (Stapf) E.B.Knox var. ''petiolatus'' (Hedberg) E.B.Knox; for this article, ''Senecio stanleyi'' was considered to be a synonym of ''Dendrosenecio adnivalis''.

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5256840 adnivalis Endemic flora of Kenya Rwenzori Mountains Virunga Mountains Afromontane flora