159 
In the Volcanic Region 
carries blossoms of the size and colour of Rubus runsorensis Engl.y 
The undergrowth, however, which forms the ‘ green meadows ’ 
which one sees from below, is a real wilderness of great African 
shrubs of which the most important are the umbelliferae 
{Anthriscus silvestris (Z.) Hoffm.y and Peucedanum Kerstenii 
Engl.), as also a sorrel {Rumex Steudelii Hochst.). The soil is 
rich, soft and heavy: the foot sinks deep into it at every step. 
“The heath region at Karissimbi is not particularly note¬ 
worthy. It is true that the Philippia ]ohnstonii Engl, attains 
stately, tree-like dimensions with very broad, dense crowns, 
comparing very favourably with the ericacecB of Ruwenzori, but 
it is limited to the margin of the Hans Meyer Crater, an altitude 
of 3,8 cx) metres, and only forms a streak amongst the senecio 
growth which starts lower down. 
“The Senecio ]ohnstonii is extraordinarily developed at Karis¬ 
simbi. It begins below the so-called south cone at an elevation 
of about 3,400 metres as a candelabrum-branched tree about ten 
metres in height, and extends up the cone for another thousand 
metres, of which it is the sole inhabitant. In the lower region 
it is interspersed with the mighty stalks of Lobelia Wollastonii 
Sp. Moore, which look like immense gun swabs. There were few 
blooming plants to be found in November; there were mostly 
withered stems or young plants with great shocks of leaves. One 
withered stem measured 5.50 metres in height, of which the blos¬ 
som-spikes took up 2.50, the circumference of the hollow stems in 
the leafy region being 50 centimetres. It is the same genus which 
is characteristic of the alpine region of Ruwenzori. In this vegeta¬ 
tion the ground is covered with a semi-shrublike Alchemilla 
cinerea Engl., which spreads almost all over the great mountain 
cone like a perfect grey-green carpet. It is excessively fatiguing 
to climb in it, especially in the lower part, where one sinks in up 
to the knees. Below the summit it gives way to mosses, liver¬ 
wort and lichen, but we came across it again near the highest 
point in the shape of a few dwarfed specimens amongst the 
snowflakes and the storm-tossed lava fragments which were 
studded with ice crystals at an elevation of 4,500 metres.” 
