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10 plants worth knowing

Kenya

Kenya is the classic savanna country: the grassy plains of the Maasai Mara and Tsavo, dotted with acacias and baobabs, are cut through by the Great Rift Valley with its chain of lakes. The cool, rainy highlands around Mount Kenya (5,199 m) and the Aberdares are clothed in montane forest and tea plantations, coastal forests and mangroves grow along the Indian Ocean, and the dry north around Lake Turkana is semi-desert.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Umbrella thorn 1

    tree

    Umbrella thorn

    Vachellia tortilis

    The flat crown of an acacia against the setting sun over the Maasai Mara is the best-known image of the Kenyan savanna.
  2. Tea plant 2

    crop

    Tea plant

    Camellia sinensis

    Kenya is the world’s largest exporter of black tea – the green carpets of Kericho’s plantations stretch to the horizon.
  3. Dendrosenecio keniodendron 3

    perennial

    Dendrosenecio keniodendron

    Dendrosenecio keniodendron

    A relative of the humble groundsel that has grown to the size of a tree on the slopes of Mount Kenya and survives freezing nights.
  4. Common wild fig 4

    tree

    Common wild fig

    Ficus thonningii

    The sacred tree of the Kikuyu – beneath the spreading mugumo people prayed to the god Ngai and made sacrifices.
  5. African baobab 5

    tree

    African baobab

    Adansonia digitata

    The mbuyu is the giant of the Swahili coast – its seeds are made into colourful mabuyu sweets, Mombasa’s favourite snack.
  6. Arabica coffee 6

    crop

    Arabica coffee

    Coffea arabica

    Kenyan arabica from the volcanic slopes of Mount Kenya is famed for its bright acidity and fruity notes – AA beans are among the world’s finest.
  7. Maize 7

    crop

    Maize

    Zea mays

    Maize flour is cooked into ugali – a stiff porridge that is the basis of almost every meal in Kenya.
  8. Fever tree 8

    tree

    Fever tree

    Vachellia xanthophloea

    An acacia with glowing yellow-green bark lines the shores of the Rift Valley lakes – early travellers blamed it for the fever spread by mosquitoes.
  9. Sausage tree 9

    tree

    Sausage tree

    Kigelia africana

    Fruits weighing several kilograms dangle on long cords from the sausage tree’s branches – one of the strangest sights of the savanna.
  10. Candelabra tree 10

    succulent

    Candelabra tree

    Euphorbia candelabrum

    Above Lake Nakuru grows a forest of candelabra trees said to be the largest in Africa – tree-like succulents resembling giant candlesticks.