Lobelia deckenii

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Campanulaceae
Subfamilia: Lobelioideae
Genus: Lobelia
Species: Lobelia deckenii
Subspecies: L. d. subsp. deckenii – L. d. subsp. incipiens
Name

Lobelia deckenii (Asch.) Hemsl. in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 466 (1877).
Synonyms

Basionym
Tupa deckenii Asch., Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 27: 71 (1869).
Homotypic
Tupa kerstenii Vatke, Linnaea 38: 725 (1874), nom. superfl.
Dortmanna deckenii (Asch.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 972 (1891).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Africa
Regional: Eastern Africa
Tanzania (Kilimanjaro)

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References

Hemsley, W.B. in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), 1877. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 466.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Lobelia deckenii in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Aug. 03. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Lobelia deckenii. Published online. Accessed: Aug. 03 2019.
Tropicos.org 2019. Lobelia deckenii. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Aug. 03.

Vernacular names

Lobelia deckenii is a species of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae.[3] It is a giant lobelia endemic to the mountains of Tanzania.[1] It is listed as a threatened plant of the forests of Cherangani hills, Kenya.[4] It grows in moist areas, such as valley bottoms and moorland, in contrast to Lobelia telekii which grows in a similar but drier habitat. These two species produce occasional hybrids. Lobelia deckenii plants usually produce multiple rosettes. Each rosette grows for several decades, produces a single large inflorescence and hundreds of thousands of seeds, then dies. Because individual plants have multiple rosettes, they survive to reproduce repeatedly, and plants with more rosettes flower more frequently. It is iteroparous.[5]

Lobelia deckenii plants usually form between one and eighteen rosettes which are connected underground. The individual rosettes grow slowly in the alpine environment,[5] and may take decades to reach reproductive size. The rosette that produces an inflorescence dies after flowering, but the remaining connected rosettes live on.[5]

Lobelia deckenii is the only alpine species of lobelia that is native to Kilimanjaro,[6] occurring between 3,800 and 4,300 m (12,500 and 14,100 ft).[7]

Lobelia deckenii subsp. keniensis is the variety of Lobelia deckenii that occurs on Mount Kenya, between 3,300 and 4,600 m (10,800 and 15,100 ft). It is eaten less by rock hyrax than Lobelia telekii, which occurs more often in hyrax habitat. The lobelia species on Mount Kenya are both pollinated by birds,[8][9] especially the scarlet-tufted sunbird and the alpine chat.[10]

This species of giant lobelia is known for the reservoirs of water held in its rosettes, which freeze at night and protect the apical meristem which is contained in a dense central leaf bud. When this reservoir is drained, the temperature of the inner meristem drops below freezing, which does not occur when the fluid is left intact.[11] The crescent-shaped ice cubes formed in these rosettes gave rise to the nickname, "gin and tonic lobelia".
Gallery

References

"Lobelia deckenii (Asch.) Hemsl". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
International Plant Names Index
"Lobelia deckenii (Asch.) Hemsl". World Flora Online. The World Flora Online Consortium. n.d. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
Mbuni, Yuvenalis Morara; Zhou, Yadong; Wang, Shengwei; Ngumbau, Veronicah Mutele; Musili, Paul Mutuku; Mutie, Fredrick Munyao; Njoroge, Brian; Kirika, Paul Muigai; Mwachala, Geoffrey; Vivian, Kathambi; Rono, Peninah Cheptoo; Hu, Guangwan; Wang, Qingfeng (18 April 2019). "An annotated checklist of vascular plants of Cherangani hills, Western Kenya". PhytoKeys. 120: 1–90.
Young, Truman P. (1984). "The comparative demography of semelparous Lobelia telekii and iteroparous Lobelia keniensis on Mount Kenya". Journal of Ecology. 72 (2): 637–650. doi:10.2307/2260073. JSTOR 2260073.
Young, T.P. 1991. La flora, fauna y ecología del Monte Kenia y el Kilimanjaro. Pp. 37-49 En: Guía para el Monte Kenia y el Kilimanjaro (Iain Allan, ed.) Mountain Club of Kenya ISBN 978-9966-9856-0-6
Kilimanjaro. Oh rei da áfrica. Revista Planeta, dezembro de 2005.
Young, Truman P. (1982). "Bird visitation, seed set, and germination rates in two species of Lobelia on Mount Kenya". Ecology. 68 (6): 1983–1986. doi:10.2307/1940139. JSTOR 1940139.
Burd, Martin (1995). "Pollinator behavioural responses to reward size in Lobelia deckenii: no escape from pollen limitation of seed set". Journal of Ecology. 83 (5): 865–872. doi:10.2307/2261423. JSTOR 2261423.
Smith, Alan P.; Truman P. Young (1987). "Tropical Alpine Plant Ecology". Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 18: 137–158. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.18.110187.001033.
Young, Truman P.; Susan Van Orden Robe (1986). "Micro-environmental role of a secreted aqueous solution in afro-alpine Lobelia keniensis". Biotropica. 18 (3): 267–269. doi:10.2307/2388496. JSTOR 2388496.