''Dendrosenecio meruensis'' is one of the

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

giant groundsel ''Dendrosenecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is a segregate of ''Senecio'', in which it formed the subgenus ''Dendrosenecio''. Its members, the giant groundsels, are native to the higher altitude zones of ten mo ...

, this one is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the slopes of

Mount Meru Mount Meru ( Sanskrit/ Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and sp ...

. Once they were considered to be of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Morp ...

'' but since then have been reclassified into their own genus ''

Dendrosenecio ''Dendrosenecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is a segregate of ''Senecio'', in which it formed the subgenus ''Dendrosenecio''. Its members, the giant groundsels, are native to the higher altitude zones of ten mo ...

''.

Description

''Dendrosenecio meruensis'' an upright plant that can grow to 7 meters tall, with trunks up to 35 centimeters in diameter and

pith Pith, or medulla, is a tissue in the stems of vascular plants. Pith is composed of soft, spongy parenchyma cells, which in some cases can store starch. In eudicotyledons, pith is located in the center of the stem. In monocotyledons, it e ...

diameter of 2 centimeters. Leaf- rosettes of 15 to 20 leaves which are somewhat loose around the stem. Leaf bases retained for 1 to 2 meters around the stem and below the leaf-rosette. "Repeated reproduction and branching yields a sprawling, open canopy with up to 10–30 aerial

meristem The meristem is a type of tissue found in plants. It consists of undifferentiated cells (meristematic cells) capable of cell division. Cells in the meristem can develop into all the other tissues and organs that occur in plants. These cells conti ...

s in mature trees." Leaf surfaces are elliptical, 113 centimeters long and 34 centimeters wide, with cushions of hair cushion weakly to strongly developed on upper leaf surface. The lower leaf surface is hairless or with slight small, soft hairs sometimes cobweb-like along lower mid-vein. Inflorescence broadly flat on the top and can be up to 100 centimeters tall with diameters of 50 centimeters. The

flower head A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

s are presented horizontally. 12 to 17

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In ...

ray florets that can be up to 23 millimeters long and 40 to 65 disc florets.

Distribution

Found between 2850 and 3350 meters up the slopes of

. The following was presented as a first hand view of the flora on Mount Meru: ;

(2007): From the

Arusha Region Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern ...

, "3400 meters, giving way to alpine '' Pentaschistis'' tussock

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

. In wetter areas, and on the western slopes in deep valleys, giant groundsels (''Senecio meruensis'') and '' Lobelia deckenii'' occur with many other afroalpine species such as '' Anemone thomsonii'', '' Disa stairsii'', '' Gladiolus watsonioides'' and '' Swertia kilimandscharica''. On the drier western, northern and eastern slopes ''Stoebe kilimandscharica'' (''

Seriphium kilimandscharicum ''Stoebe'' is a genus of African plants in the tribe Gnaphalieae within the family Asteraceae. ; Species ; formerly included A few dozen species now regarded as members of other genera: ''Dicerothamnus Dolichothrix Disparago Gongyloglossa ...

'') bushes replace ericaceous heath, with '' Artemisia afra'', '' Anthospermum usambarense'' and '' Adenocarpus mannii''. In absence of fire, both types of subalpine heaths have a gradual transition to forests around 3000 meters altitude with isolated subalpine bush patches in the openings of ''

Hagenia abyssinica ''Hagenia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species ''Hagenia abyssinica'', native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East A ...

'' forest at 2700-2800 meters altitude and ''

'' forest patches in protected valleys at 3240 meters."

Infraspecific name synonymy

The names for the giant groundsels have become somewhat confusing: *''Dendrosenecio meruensis'' (Cotton & Blakelock) E.B.Knox **''Senecio johnstonii'' Oliv. var. ''meruensis'' (Cotton & Blakelock) C.Jeffrey **''Senecio meruensis'' Cotton & Blakelock

References

External links

* meruensis Endemic flora of Tanzania Mount Meru (Tanzania) {{Senecioneae-stub