Ferns, Mount Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania

Due to its varied array of habitats Mt Kilimanjaro is distinctly richer in fern species than the other high volcanoes in East Africa (Hemp, in press). The main habitat is the luxuriant montane forest, which is exceptionally rich in pteridophytes (Hemp, under review). While working on the flora and vegetation of Mt Kilimanjaro, a total of over 140 ferns and fern allies have been found so far. In 1999, three more species: Adiantum reniforme, Azolla africana and Trichomanes radicans were found on the southern slope of Mt Kilimanjaro that are not yet recorded in the published fascicles on fern families in the Flora of Tropical East Africa and in the preliminary checklist of Pteridophytes (Johns, 1991). Two of them (Adiantum reniforme and Trichomanes radicans) are very rare in Africa (Johns, 1991). This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for American Broadcasting Company and traveled to Africa from June 1966 to August 1966.