page_title: Mount Kenya
section_title: Flora
hierarchical_section_title: Mount Kenya / Natural history / Flora
context_page_description: Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana. Mount Kenya is located in the former Eastern and Central provinces of Kenya, now Meru, Embu, Laikipia, Kirinyaga, Nyeri and Tharaka Nithi counties, about 16.5 kilometres south of the equator, around 150 km north-northeast of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya.
  Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African Rift. Before glaciation, it was 7,000 m high. It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre. There are currently 11 small glaciers, which are shrinking rapidly, and may be gone forever by 2050. The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya.
  There are several vegetation bands from the base to the summit. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many alpine species are endemic to Mount Kenya, such as the giant lobelias and senecios and a local subspecies of rock hyrax.
context_section_description: The flora found on Mount Kenya varies with altitude, aspect and exposure. As the altitude increases, the plants have to be more specialised, with adaptations to strong sunlight with ultraviolet, lower mean temperatures and freezing night temperatures.
  Plants in the Afro-alpine zone have overcome these difficulties in several ways. One adaptation is known as the giant rosette, which is exhibited by giant senecio, giant lobelia and giant thistle (Carduus), which use bud leaves to protect their buds from freezing. Giant rosette senecios form single-aged stands that drive community structure over decades.
  Many plant species in the Afro-alpine zone of Mount Kenya are giant versions of lowland (or temperate) relatives. However, nearer the nival zone the plants decrease in size again.
caption: Hyrax are able to cope with a more extreme climate and are found up to the highest elevation.
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