2 4 o EASTERN ETHIOPIA xvm 



the tree-lobelias when in flower are visited by flocks of 

 beautiful sunbirds (see p. 376). A species of St. John's 

 wort assumes here a tree-like form and the everlasting 

 flower Helichrysum flourishes up to the level of the 

 snow. This pretty flower takes the place of Edelweiss 

 in Alpine regions. At an altitude of 11,000 to 12,000 

 feet the ground and tree trunks are covered with an 

 extraordinary growth of moss (Usnea}. In these humid 

 places the heaths grow into big trees, some of them fifty 

 feet high. 



The arborescent groundsels have been recently studied 

 by Woosnam on Ruwenzori. At first a senecio is a 

 small plant not unlike a cabbage : gradually the stem 

 lengthens and gives out branches with a tuft of bright 

 green leaves at the end : as the plant grows the old 

 leaves shrivel and droop, hanging down the stem one 

 upon another till the upper parts of the branches near 

 the green tuft are transformed into great swollen masses 

 of dead leaves tightly packed together. These senecio 

 trees attain a great age, which it would not be too 

 much to estimate at anything from fifty to one hundred 

 years, or even more. 



The lobelias are more remarkable than the groundsels. 

 They are found on Ruwenzori, Kilimanjaro, and Kenia. 

 On all these mountains from 7,000 to 15,000 feet these 

 tree-lobelias flourish and many attain a height of fifteen 

 feet or more. 



A tree-lobelia consists of a basal portion crowded with 

 aloe-like leaves. From the stem, a flow T er column or 

 spike arises. This in some species (L. Deckenii) is 

 hollow and lined with pith. The flowers grow out at 

 right angles to the column and are borne in the axils of 

 the bracts. These bracts are long and often give the 

 flower-column a ragged appearance. The sepals are light 

 green and the flowers dark violet ; when the flowers are 

 mature they produce an exquisite shimmering of colour. 

 Woosnam is of opinion that the lobelias live to a great 

 age, but it is a long time before they come into blossom, 



