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Frimpong The Travelling Bear | all galleries >> Frimpong's trips 2004 -2012 >> Frimpong on Kilimanjaro - by Jola Dziubinska > 13. Taking time out to admire the alpine species on Kilimanjaro
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September 2009 Jola Dziubinska

13. Taking time out to admire the alpine species on Kilimanjaro

We were hiking through the alpine heath and moorland - shrubs, grass, bush.
Lobelia deckenii is a species of giant lobelia, endemic to East Africa's mountains.
It is the only alpine species of lobelia that lives on Kilimanjaro.
They are most commonly found between 3,300m and 4,200m.
Each rosette flowers only once before dying and is replaced by another rosette.
There are multiple rosettes per plant which link underground and look like different plants.
The rosettes of leaves close over the core at night and water freezes above it.
The water below the top layer of ice never freezes then, so the sensitive leaf bud is protected from sub-zero temperatures.


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