PLANTS OF KENYA
17-05-2021 di redazione
Delonix Regia, native to the forests of northern Madagascar, is one of the most beautiful flowering tree species belonging to the Fabaceae family, also known as Leguminosae. It is known by many as Flamboyant, which in French means flaming, or Flame Tree, both names derive their origins from the appearance of the flowering plant which turns bright red.
he Flame Tree, which is widespread throughout the tropical belt from Australia to the Caribbean islands, is easy to find in Kenya, too, to marvel and enchant oneself in front of this plant during flowering.
This species was previously placed in the Poinciana genus, in fact it is still called Royal Poinciana, in honour of Monsieur de Poincy first French Governor of Saint Christopher (Saint Kitts), where the national flower is the Flamboyant flower.
It is a majestic tree which can reach a height of more than fifteen metres, even if here in Kenya the trunk is always rather low, with long enlarged branches which tend to grow horizontally giving the plant its characteristic umbrella shape, covered by bipinnate leaves which resemble those of the fern, which tend to close at dusk. In the dry season, the plant may lose its leaves completely, but the fruit may remain until the next flowering. The fruit is a long pod of 40 to 60 centimetres containing several dozen dark seeds streaked on the edges, which may remind one of sunflower seeds. Occasionally the fruit is used by local people as a musical instrument, shaking the seeds inside the pod to produce a characteristic shaking sound.
The inflorescence has magnificent large flowers (5 to 10 cm) consisting of five petals, four of which are uniformly coloured deep red or orange while the central petal, which is slightly rounded, is white with yellow streaks.
The main use of the flamboyant is ornamental. It is planted in parks, gardens and avenues for its magnificent flowering and as a shade tree for livestock or to protect other tree species, as it is useful for maintaining soil moisture and reducing soil temperature.
PLACES
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Put a magnificent structure that looks like a tower designed by Gaudi in the middle of the virgin forest of Watamu, about a hundred meters from the ocean and the white long beach between Turtle Bay and Garoda.
Kora National Park is one of the national parks in the coastal region of Kenya. It covers an area of 1,7800sq km along the banks of the Tana River, 125km east of Mount Kenya.
PLACES
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Among the thousands of possibilities to enjoy Nature that Kenya, and particularly its coast, can boast, there is certainly the sea landscape dominated by mangroves.
These plants, which have their roots in soils which feed on water from the Indian...
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Watamu and its tourism industry are strengthened by the recent trade fair in Nairobi.
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NEWS
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Watamu is not only a paradise for tourists and for those who fall in love with Africa and then returns, but also a "field of exploration" for many young people from all over the world.
Especially its ecosystem is of...
TERROIR
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High-altitude African juniper berries native to the Kijabe Plateau, more than 2,000 meters above sea level, not far from Mt. Longonot and the Maai Mahiu escarpment, harvested only...
NATURE
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Freeing lakes from a weed that restricts fish reproduction and at the same time creating biofuel to limit the use of charcoal in rural kitchens.
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The green heart of Africa, where every nook and cranny is a metaphor for the continent's wild and fabulous eternity: springs, forest, sudden precipices and escarpments, gentle hills...
PARKS
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They call it 'Tarzan's Paradise'.
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RECIPES
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Fish morsels in mango sauce.
This is a Swahili recipe particularly used in Malindi and Watamu and on the coast of Kenya, where the plants of this delicious tropical fruit abound.
Here is for you the recipe of watamukenya.net
ENVIRONMENT
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Environmentalists move by two years to avoid a mess that could relate to the Arabuko Sokoke Forest, which stretches from Gede in Matsangoni, along the Mombasa-Malindi road where there are also inputs for tourists, until well into the street for...
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I don't think that Kenyans know the nursery rhyme that my grandmother used to sing to me when I was a child: "it's raining, it's raining, the cat doesn't move, we light the candle, we say good evening..." also because...
HISTORICAL PLACES
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Gede is located between Malindi and Kilifi, in the coastal region of Kenya, 94 km north of the city of Mombasa.
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