Variety of forest ferns, Ruwenzori Mountains, Congo (Democratic Republic)

"The vegetation of the Albertine Rift is dominated by montane rainforest, but it undergoes changes with altitude, from the glaciers and rock at the top of the Rwenzori Mountains (5 100 m), down through alpine moorland (3 400-4 500 m), giant Senecio and lobelia vegetation (3 100-3 600 m), giant heather (3 000-3 500 m), raised bogs (3 000-4 000 m), bamboo forest (2 500-3 000 m), montane forest (1 500-2 500 m), to mid-altitude and lowland forest (600-1 500 m), savanna woodland (600-2 000 m), and savanna grassland (600-2 500 m). Papyrus and Carex wetlands are found around the lakes and some streams, and the lakes have their own habitat types varying from rocky and sandy edges to the pelagic zones in their depths. Some particularly unusual habitats include those around the volcanic hot springs and the peculiar sclerophytic vegetation that colonizes old lava flows in the Virunga National Park in eastern DRC." This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon traveled to Africa from March 17, 1970 to July 17, 1970.