Kilimanjaro Mountain Top Exotic Plants
Summit Fauna > More in this Category > Geography of Kilimanjaro > Geology of Kilimanjaro > Volcanic Centres on Kilimanjaro > Kilimanjaro National Park > Plant Life on Kilimanjaro > High Slope Fauna
Mount Kilimanjaro SummitPlants near the top of the mountain tend to become less and less. Travelling slightly higher up the slopes of Kili, one will come across the heath and moorland. Also known as the grassy land of giants, the heath is inhabited by enormous heathers growing taller than 9 feet in many instances. Scattered between the giant shrubs are resilient and beautiful flowers such as the Kilimanjaro protea, and 'everlasting daisies'. Also lighting up the mountain with the colours of an African sunset are the well known succulents, Kniphofia thomsonii, otherwise known as red hot pokers.
Intersecting the heath, the moorland area is occupied mostly by senecios and lobelias. Some of these plants stand approximately 17 feet high and are over 100 years old. One sub- type of the species, the Lobelia deckenii has protective leaves which close over the plant's tiny blue flowers at night, protecting them from the devastation of the evening frost.
At approximately 4500 feet, the alpine desert is a cauldron of extreme temperatures. Scorched by the equatorial sun during the day and battered by sub zero winds at night, only the hardiest of plants can survive here. Tussock shoots sprout from within the confines of the plant's dead older strands and lichens cling directly to jagged lava rocks. Also managing to endure the harsh terrain is the resilient helichrysum, whose bright yellow flowers stand out like golden treasure against the empty, grey surroundings.
The final stretch of the mountain, the summit zone, is inhabited only by the hardiest of lichens. Due to the fact that all water at this altitude has been sucked into the absorbent Volcanic Rocks, ice and snow, even the lichens at this Altitude grow incredibly slowly. Those that are evident are more than likely at least a couple of decades old, existing almost as examples to weary climbers on the last leg of their journey to the uppermost peak of Kilimanjaro. Indeed, obstacles are merely those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals. The trick is simply to keep on heading upwards!
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The Kilimanjaro Experience
Kilimanjaro Climbing Preparation 
