Dendrosenecio kilimanjari
Encyclopedia
Dendrosenecio kilimanjari is a giant groundsel found atop Mount Kilimanjaro
in Africa
. 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 grounsels 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 - the standard distance for wind dispersal of seeds is a few metres - and these isolated populations adapted
in ways different to the parent population, creating new species
.
Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...
in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. 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
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
. The giant grounsels 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 - the standard distance for wind dispersal of seeds is a few metres - and these isolated populations adapted
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
in ways different to the parent population, creating new species
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
.
Infraspecific name synonymy
The 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
- Dendrosenecio kilimanjari (Mildbr.) E.B.Knox subsp. kilimanjari
- Senecio johnstonii Oliv. var. kilimanjari (Mildbr.) C.Jeffrey
- Senecio kilimanjari Mildbr.