240 EASTERN ETHIOPIA xviii 



the tree-lol.)clins when in flower are visited l)y Mocks of 

 l)eautiful snnbirds (see p. 376). A species of St. John's 

 wort assumes liere a tree-lilie form and the everlasting- 

 flower Heliclvrysiim 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 around and tree trunks are covered with an 

 extraordinary growth of moss (Usiiea). In these humid 

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

 feet high. 



The arl lorescent groundsels have been recently studied 

 l)y Woosnam on Ruwenzori. At first a senecio is a 

 small plant not unlike a cabljage : 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 clown the stem one 

 upon another till the upper parts of the branches near 

 the green tuft are transformed into gveat swollen masses 

 of dead leaves tightly packed together. These senecio 

 trees attain a great age, which it would not l)e too 

 much to estimate at anything from fifty to one hundred 

 years, or even more. 



The lobelias are more reiiiarkable than the groundsels. 

 They are found on Euweuzori, Kilimanjaro, and Kenia. 

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

 trec-lol)elias flourish and many attain a height of fifteen 

 feet or more. 



A tree-lobelia consists of a basal portion crowded witli 

 alocdike leaves. From the stem, a flower column or 

 spike arises. This in some species {L. Deckenu) 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. Tliese l)racts 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 excjuisite 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, 



