Dendrosenecio kilimanjari

Dendrosenecio kilimanjari is a giant groundsel found on Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, below 4,000 metres (13,000 ft).

Dendrosenecio kilimanjari
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Dendrosenecio
Species:	D. kilimanjari
Binomial name
Dendrosenecio kilimanjari (Mildbr.) E.B.Knox
Synonyms
Senecio kilimanjari Mildbr. Sources:[1][2]

Taxonomy

It was originally known as Senecio kilimanjari, but a recent botanical reclassification split off some species formerly in Senecio, putting it and various other species in the new genus Dendrosenecio. Both genera are in the family Asteraceae. The giant groundsels of the genus Dendrosenecio evolved, about a million years ago, from a Senecio that established itself on Mount Kilimanjaro, with those that survived adapting into Dendrosenecio kilimanjari. This later colonised other mountains by some means—a standard distance for wind dispersal of seeds is a few metres—and these isolated populations adapted in ways different from the parent population, creating new species.^[3]

Infraspecific name synonymy

The infraspecific names for the giant groundsels have become somewhat confusing:

• Dendrosenecio kilimanjari (Mildbr.) E.B.Knox subsp. cottonii (Hutch. & G.Taylor) E.B.Knox
  • Dendrosenecio johnstonii (Oliv.) B.Nord. subsp. cottonii (Hutch. & G.Taylor) B.Nord.
  • Senecio cottonii Hutch. & G.Taylor
  • Senecio johnstonii Oliv. subsp. cottonii (Hutch. & G.Taylor) Mabb.
  • Senecio johnstonii Oliv. var. cottonii (Hutch. & G.Taylor) C.Jeffrey^[4]
• Dendrosenecio kilimanjari (Mildbr.) E.B.Knox subsp. kilimanjari
  • Senecio johnstonii Oliv. var. kilimanjari (Mildbr.) C.Jeffrey
  • Senecio kilimanjari Mildbr.^[5]

A large Dendrosenecio kilimanjari, near Barranco Camp, Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania