Sphagnum Moss
Grows closely appressed to moist, damp surface in partial to full shade.
Rose Moss
Many moss species in Kenya. Found in moist habitats and rarely taller than a few cm's.
Doryopteris
Tufted fern. No flowers or fruit. The fronds are roughly triangular in outline.
Azolla Fern
Minute floating ferns resembling duckweeds. Color can range from red to green.
Weeping Fern
Widely cultivated but also native species. Grows upon trees or from breaks in cliff faces.
Podo
Thickish narrow leaves. Seeds within a spherical, fleshy cone. Large forest tree in moist highland areas.
African Juniper
Short, scale-leaf needles and cones with a fleshy, aromatic aril. Forest tree with dark gray, scaly bark found at higher elevations.
Mexican Cypress
Plantation timber tree of mid to highland areas. Spherical cones harden and split into a half dozen woody scales. Fast growing.
Blood Lily
Dense globe of orange-red flowers make this amarylid conspicuous and widely known.
Vlei-Lily
Spectacular amarillid flowers white, tinged with wine-color opening at night. Margins of rubbery leaves appear crinkled.
Gloriosa Lily
Spectacular lily with long red-orange petals and leaves ending in tendril-like appendages.
Yellow Star Grass
Rosete of basal grass-like leaves with 6-pointed yellow flowers rising above. Several similar species in Kenya.
African Asparagus
Needle-like leaves in clusters along stems. Spikes of small six-pointed flowers. Semi-arid shrub.
Wild Asparagus
Tough, woody stems with numerous side stems reaching lengths of 2 to 3 m and bearing feathery leaves and very stout thorns.
Bulbine
Grass-like leaves are thick and succulent. Yellow flowers in spikes. Native to South Africa, but widely cultivated.
Cornstalk Dracaena
One to several meters tall/long stems in forest understory. Terminal clusters of white or wine-colored flowers.
Reclining Date Palm
Clump-forming palm with long, pinnate leaves. Multiple stems may reach 15 m in height.
Agave
Agave species are native to Tropical America. A number of species including sisal have been introduced.
Aloe
Succulent with thick, fleshy leaves. Leaves are distinctly toothed along margins. Tubular, red flowers. Many similar species in Kenya.
Wollaston's Aloe
Acaulescent aloe - i.e. leaves clustered at ground level. Light spotting on leaves. Highland area devoted to animal grazing.
Leopard Orchid
Grows epiphytically upon branches of trees. Large flowers have red-brown spots on golden yellow.
Eulopha Orchid
Large sepals marked with red. Terestial - grows on rocky ground at margins of woodlands.
Screw Pine
Flowers and fruit in large, spherical bunches. Leaves long and strap-like resembling palm leaves. Leaf margins sharply serrated.
Water Lettuce
Floating plant with thick, bouyant leaves. Reproduction often by vegetative budding.
Dioscorea Yam
Woody vine with short, sharp thorns and flowers in long, loose spikes. Heart shaped leaves are tough.
Papyrus
Robust reed of river- and lake-side marshes. Characteristic umbrella-shaped inflorescence.
Sedge
Grass-like plant in usu. moist or wet areas. Branched, terminal spikes of green flowers. Many species.
Cream Sedge
Bright cream colored inflorescence set this sedge apart. Often grows a meter or more tall. This specimen was growing low in turf.
Rush
These plants of moist to wet soil look like grass. Stems are round in cross-section.
Harpachne
Clump-forming grass with stems up to 0.5m tall. Pendulous spikelets crowded at top of infloresence. Often shaded a pink-red color.
... More Grasses!Water Milfoil
Submerged aquatic herb with numerous very finely divided leaves. Pockets of air inside the long stems serve as floats.
Pond Weed
Aquatic plant with floating stems and leaves. Flowers are borne in spikes and have four parts.
Water Hyacinth
Floating plant with inflated stems and spikes of large blue flowers. Exotic invasive sometimes clogs waterways.
Typha
Robust herbaceous plant of wet places forming densely packed stands. Cottony seeds in thick-packed spikes.
Date Palm
Long pinnately compound leaves on medium to large tree. Mostly found only in cultivation.
Traveler's Palm
Tree-size, herbaceous plant with the huge leaves oriented in a vertical plane. Complex flower with large showy spathe. Non-native.
Aneilema
Vine-like, herbaceous or slightly woody plant clambers over other vegetation. Two petals much larger than the third. Partly shady undergrowth.
Spiderwort
Two large blue petals and one smaller appear for a short time, maybe a day. Common herb or weed in moist gardens.
She-oak
A slender tree when grown in dense groves with feathery, gray-green foliage and non-showy flowers in catkins. Coastal Kenya.
River She-oak
Frequently planted tree in the mid elevations. Appears pine-like with small cone-like fruit.
Wild Pepper
Shrubby plant with very large soft leaves with heart-shaped base. Flowers white, minute and packed into dense spikes.
More
Information ...
Also see Cape Wild Pepper
Cherimoya
Cultivated fruit tree native to the Amrican tropics. Large, pear-shaped fruit has a scalloped surface texture and custard-like flesh.
Kenyan Dwaba Berry
Small tree with spherical yellow flowers. Fleshy fruits in clusters. Leaves eliptic and smooth-margined. Among many native Annonaceae.
African Greenheart
Small to large tree with rounded crown and shiny green, simple leaves. Fruit a spherical berry.
Avocado
Large fleshy fruit with a single large seed at center. Leaves elyptic, smooth margined and dark green. Origin is also tropical America.
Water Lily
Familiar floating plants. Large showy flowers with numerous petals, stamens and pistils. Prefers shallow water where roots are anchored in bottom soil.
Water Snowflake
Floating water plant with big leaves and white, five petal flowers.
Meadow-Rue
In moist soil, often in partial shade, this herb has distinctive compound leaves.
Clematis
White flowers about 2cm in dia. from a vine growing in sunny locations.
Buttercup
Herbaceous plants of moist soil in the mountains. Five petals and numerous stamens and pistils.
Sensitive Wood-Sorrel
Delicate plant resembles a Lilliputian umbrella that folds up when disturbed!
Oblique Sorrel
Herb with usually no above-ground branching. Leaves divided into 3 equal parts - trifoliate. Flowers singular.
Confetti
Conspicuous when flowering. Leaves ovate, simple, lightly serrated and often notched at tip. Straight, long thorns.
Hippocratea (?)
Woody plants with long, pendulous branches, opposite leaves and small clusters of whitish flowers.
Kei Apple
Woody shrub with stout thorns. Spherical fruits turn orange when ripe. Oblong, alternate leaves.
Thorn Pear
Alternate, shiny leaves with serrated margins and a sturdy thorns arising from leaf axils. Large, leafy shrub. 1 cm fruit ripen to orange.
Mexican Prickly Poppy
Bright yellow flowers with five petals on very prickly herbaceous plant. Followed by a spiny pod. Non-Native.
White Witch-Hazel
Small tree with alternate, elliptical leaves and woody fruits arranged into s spherical cluster. Flowers cream- colored.
Common Purslane
Bright yellow flowers on a creeping, succulent herb. Leaves obovate. Weed of gardens, but also a vegetable.
Chickenweed
Forms mats of succulent, leafy stems and yellow flowers with four petals. Widely distributed in tropical Asia and Africa. Leaves opposite.
Kalanchoe
Succulent leaves are in a rosette at ground level. Four yellow petals. Clusters of flowers on a tall flower stalk almost a meter tall. Keyed to K. prittwitzii.
Kalanchoe #2
Dense clusters of orange-pink flowers at apex of succulent plant. Large, leathery and thick leaves with scalloped margins.
Stephania
Leaves nearly orbicular with the stem attached at center. Twining vine from woody base. Small whitish flowers.
Abuta
Herbaceous vine with round or slightly rhombic, velvety leaves. Flowers small, green in long, pendulous spikes.
Boscia
Small tree or shrub with thick lance-shaped leaves. Flowers in spherical clusters followed by berry-like fruit.
Seaside Caper
Scrambling seaside shrub with long whitish stamens and white petals. Leaves thick and nearly round.
Sukuma Wiki
Widely cultivated variety of kale - an open-leaf variety of cabbage.
Peppergrass
An herbaceous garden weed in relatively cool highland areas. Fruit appear as small, discs with a small notch at apex.
Shrubby Dock
This is a shrubby version of the familiar sheep sorrel. Small pink flowers give rise to showy fruit with pink wings.
Black Bindweed
Twining plant with heart-shaped leaves and small green-white flowers.
Knotweed
Spikes of pink to white flowers on mostly herbaceous plant of wet or submerged soil. Leaves lance-shaped.
Catchfly
Weedy annual or perennial. Leaves opposite at swollen stem nodes. Five pale petals.
Campion
Slender herb with grass-like leaves and with pale lavender blooms. Leaves opposite.
Cape Plumbago
Scrambling plant growing almost vine-like up and over other plants. Pale blue flowers with very long tubes in clumps.
Pokeweed
Scrambling plant reaching several meters and sometimes vine-like. White flowers followed by blue-black berries in spikes. Leaves elyptic.
Pokeweed
Spikes of white flowers ripen into purple berries on leafy, shrubby plant. Leaves pubescent.
Khaki Weed
Tan, scaley-looking flowers on small plant that grows flat against soil. Broadly elyptic leaves are dark green.
Scented Goosefoot
An erect herb that may become thick and woody near ground. Very small, mealy, green flowers in clusters. Foliage strongly scented.
Sumac
Trifoliate leaves shiny and with leaflets tapering to point. Clusters of kidney-shaped berries.
Mango
Widely cultivated fruit tree. Dark green, shiny, simple leaves on large tree. Panicles of many small cream flowers.
Climbing Orange
Woody vine with aromatic, trifoliate leaves and sharp, curved spines along the branches. Small, whitish flowers.
Cape Chestnut
Tree with dark green, aromatic, alternate leaves, sprays of large lavender flowers and a fruit resembling a bumpy chestnut.
Commiphora
Resinous tree with exfoliating bark and gray-green trifoliate leaves. Short, stout thorns also and resinous berries.
Winged Bersama
Tree with long, shiny green,even-compound leaves. Red seeds in spherical capsule. Flowers in spikes.
Toona
Large tree with brown bark and v. long compound leaves. Small white flowers in clusters. From south Asia.
Neem Tree
Exotic tree for shade and timber. Long pinnate leaves. Small white flowers.
Natal Mahogany
Tree. Panicles of fragrant cream flowers. Large compound leaves alternate and with rusty pubescence below.
Hop Bush
Evergreen shrub with slightly resinous Elliptical leaves. Fruit a union of three, colorful papery wings. Flowers small, green.
Fern-Leaf
Tree. Compound leaves with broad wing on rachis. Small white flowers followed by blue-black berries.
Three-lobe False Mallow
Largely herbaceous plant with yellow or yellow-orange flowers. Five petals and numerous stamens with filaments fuzed into a column.
Mupfununu
Large, heart-shaped leaves help id this shrub or small tree. White or pink tinged five-petaled flowers in groups with numerous fuzed stamens.
Crossberry
Five pink petals above five longer sepals of a lighter shade. Four-lobed fruit is unique. Small tree/shrub.
Burweed
Mostly herbaceous plant with small, 5-petalled, yellow flowers and fruit a small sphere with hooked projections.
Goat's Head
Also called puncture vine - its seeds can poke holes in tires. Small yellow flowers and pinnate leaves. Trails along the ground.
Goat's Head #2
Similar to previous, but with more intricate burred fruit. Leaves and flowers also larger.
Stinging Nettle
Robust herbaceous plant with broad, serrated leaves. All foliage is beset with needle-like spines that sting!
Rockweed
Mat-forming herb with rather succulent stems. Very small flowers with papery scales. Introduced.
Jack Fruit
Large tree with big shiny leaves and very large fruits covered with pyramidal bumps. Cultivated in warm, humid areas.
Sycamore Fig
Medium to large tree with big, smooth green leaves and thick heavy limbs. Clusters of 4cm dia. fruit are borne in clusters on short branchlets arising from main branches.
Indian Banyan Tree
Aerial roots become additional trunks to support a huge spreading tree. Large, glossy leaves.
Red Stinkwood
Alternate simple leaves with serrated margins. Medium to large tree with rough bark.
Loquat
Medium sized trees with dark green Elliptical leaves grown mostly in gardens for their fruit. Cream-color flowers in panicles. Native to subtropical southeastern China.
Kenyan Blackberry
Scrambling shrub with sharp prickles on the stems, panicles of pink-hued flowers, folllowed by orange berries. Highland forest edges.
Soap Creeper
Slender vine with coiled tendrils and ovate leaves. Small white flowers in clusters.
Coral Bean
Small or medium sized tree with clumps of bright red tubular flowers, coral-colored beans and trifoliate leaves. Short curved thorns.
Yellow Bauhinia
Bright yellow, bilaterally symetrical flowers have a maroon center. Woody shrub or small tree. Two-lobed leaves are distinctive.
Fever Tree
Tall savanna trees with distinctive yellow, green and brown bark. Leaves twice-compound. White thorns in pairs. Lots of resin oozes from injuries.
Blackthorn
Relatively few, large leaflets in double-compound leaves. Beans in flat, twisted pods. Short hooked spines. Usu. a shrub or rarely a small tree.
Milkwort
Slender herb, mostly obscure but with very curiously shaped flowers. Sunny forest edges. Several species of milkwort found in Kenya.
Protea
Small sparsely branched tree with elliptical leaves and large flowers with numerous petals.
Grevillea
Feathery, pinnately divided leaves on large forest tree. Bark is dark and fissured. Australian import.
St John's Wort Bush
High mountain habitats. Dark green leaves are simple and crowded on ends of branches of stiff-branched shrub. Yellow flowers with many stamens.
Ochna
Leathery elliptical leaves with serrated margins on medium-sized tree. Sepals yellow turning red after yellow petals fall. Fruit turns black when ripe.
Micky Mouse Bush
Name refers to the bright red fleshy sepals and black fruit. Five bright yellow petals. Leaves sharply serrate.
Papaya
Small fruit tree with one main stem, large palmately lobed leaves, and with groups of axillary flowers and large, ovoid fruits.
Desert Date
Dark green leaves born on branches with many elongate green throns. Solitary flowers and fruits dispersed along the stems.
Adenium
Stems are thick and succulent and the base may be swollen. Dark green leaves and bright pink flower.
Pinwheel Milkwood
Evergreen shrub with dark green opposite leaves and milky sap. Fragrant, white, pinwheel-like flowers with 5 petals.
Frangipani
This showy dogbane has been redistributed to tropical gardens around the world from it's American origins.
Caralluma
This milkweed has the appearance of a cactus. One meter tall near Lake Baringo.
Milkweed Vine
Vine with pairs of very long, slender pods. Seed with long silky hairs. Milky sap from breaks.
Apple of Sodom
Large robust milkweed with big thick leaves and purple star-shaped flowers. Large globular seed pods.
Candelabrum Spurge
Tree-sized succulent, with smooth, angled, columnar branches. Small green or reddish flowers. Milky sap from cuts. Savannas.
Sand Mat
Many kinds of very small spurges grow close to the ground and mostly go unnoticed. Minute flowers in dense heads.
Croton
Matures to a large forest tree. Large leaves are green on top and silvery beneath. Flowers in long, pendulous spikes.
Ndzerhe
A shade tree with large elyptic leaves, small yellowish flowers and elypsoid fruits that ripen to black and are sweet.
Rhoicissus
Vine with toothed, trifoliate leaves and tendrals from stem nodes. Berries about 1cm.
Cissus
A succulent member of grape family with green, photosynthetic stems. Draping over a woody shrub.
Cyphostemma
Dark green, palmately compound leaves on vine like plant in open rangeland. Reddish glands on stems and inflorescence.
Bougainvillea
Non-native. Rank vine forming a shrub on fences or covering another plant sometime in excess of 3 m. Sharp thorns on branches. Brightly colored bracts subtend cream flowers.
Wort Club
Long slender stems scramble up and through other plants. Clusters of white funnel-shaped flowers. Club-shaped fruits.
Spiderling
Flowers are very small, but can be bright pink or carmine. Triangular leaves with reddish, wavy margin. Stems swollen at nodes.
Yellow Sapote
Large simple leaves on medium to large tree bearing round fruit with yellow, custard-like flesh. Non-native. Cultivated.
Impatiens
Bilaterally symetric flower with a long curved nectary spur. elliptical, sharply serrate leaves. Kakamega Forest.
Hooker's Impatiens ?
This impatiens has all white flowers and lance-shaped, serrated leaves. Might be non-native in cultivation only.
Small-leaved Guarri
Shrub with evergreen leaves and spherical fruits. Leaf margins wavy.
Butterfly Bush
Two to three m tall shrub with many stems and spikes of four-parted, small cream flowers.
Hebenstretia
Evergreen shrub of montane habitats and edges of elfin forest. Spikes of white flowers.
Spur-Flower
Robust shrubby plant with opposite, deltoid leaves with rounded teeth and ringed clusters of deep purple, two-lipped flowers.
Lion's Ears
Bright orange tubular flowers emerging from spiny balls of closely packed flowers and seed capsules.
Meru Oak
Forest tree with medium-sized, five-parted, palmately compound leaves. Small flowers and berries in flat-topped panicles.
Lippia
Small bluish-white flowers in short, crowded spikes. Leaves with prominent veins and aromatic oils.
Lantana
Spherical clusters of orange, red, pink and yellow tubular flowers on fast growing shrub. Aromatic.
Spiny Acanthus
Spikes of lavender-pink flowers above large, spiney-edged leaves. Kakamega Forest.
Black-eyed Susan Vine
Unmistakeable flower on a vine that grows in gardens and in sunny borders.
Broad-leaf Plantain
Small pale flowers are set in a slender spike. Herbaceous plant with leaves all basal.
Ribwort Plantain
The leaves are grass like, but wider. Flowers, small, in conical cluster upon tall slender spikes.
Royal Jasmine
Scrambling vine with opposite, compound leaves and fragrant, white flowers with long tubes and five lobes.
Ijzerhout
Medium to large dark green tree. Smooth margined, opposite leaves without stipules. Purple drupes with one hard seed.
Nandi Flame
Stately tree with dark green, compound leaves and large clusters of big, orange-red flowers.
Sausage Tree
Long and heavy fruits hang from the branches like so many sausages set to age. Remarkable flowers also that release scent at night.
Markhamia
Small to medium sized tree with dark green compound leaves and showy, bell-shaped flowers.
Baobab
Distinctive, huge tree of hot, seasonally dry habitats through much of tropical Africa. Thick, massive trunk appears oversized.
Resurection Plant
After rains these violet-like plants immediately spring up with blue flowers. Broad, ribbed leaves in basal rosette.
Pterodiscus
Uncommon plant. Opposite leaves on a low, mostly herbaceous plant.
Angolan Sesame
Upright, mostly herbaceous stems topped with large lavender, two-lipped blossums.
Bitter Apple Nightshade
Very common mostly herbaceous plant at roadsides. Fuzzy leaves, spiney stems, purple flowers and yellow fruits.
Tobacco Weed
Two meter tall shrub or small tree with flat-topped panicles of purple nightshade flowers. Kakmega Forest.
Murembu Tree
Large shrub or many-branched tree with sprays of small white flowers. Twigs with whitish hairs becoming groups of orange berries. Relatively large elyptic leaves.
Cordia
White actinomorphic flowers in headlike clusters. Leaves broadly elyptic and leathery. Fruit berry-like but turning hard.
Cordia
Large ovate leaves, stiff textured and with coarse hairs on veins and stems. Petals 5, white, fragrant flowers. Berries orange when ripe.
Hound's Tongue
Coarse, herbaceous, with blue flowers about a meter tall. Seeds inside clinging burs.
Dodder
Bright orange climbing stems without chlorophyl and without leaves. Small white flowers in clusters. Parasitic.
Morning-Glory
Large, showy tubular-funnel-form flowers on herbaceous vines. Often cultivated on fences.
Dichondra
Prostrate herb with distinctly heart-shaped leaves. Flowers obscure. Often used as ground cover.
Prickly Pear
Stems jointed and laterally compressed into round or obong pads. Flowers mostly yellow and with many petals and stamens.
Cholla Cactus
Popular fence row plant in semi-arid areas. Native to the Americas. Many sharp spines plus minute hair-like spines.
Phragmanthera
Hemiparasite in trees. Leaves elyptic and dark green on pendulent braches. Orange-red flowers in clusters. This one in green ash.
Mistletoe
Pendulous, parasitic shrub found growing directly out of branches/twigs of a host tree. Groups of reddish or white berries and with leathery leaves.
Tapinanthus
Beautiful sprays of pink flowers make this one of the showiest of mistletoes!
Violet
Low-growing herbaceous plant of moist woodlands and forest edge in mountains.
Passion Fruit
Climbing vine with spectacular, unique flowers. Leaves with two or three lobes and stems bare tendrils for climbing. Widely cultivated for the purple fruit.
Hairy Willow-herb
Wetland plant with soft, hirsute leaves and pink-magenta flowers with four petals.
Evening Primrose
Non-native, mostly herbaceous plant with 4-petaled flowers and inferior ovary. Eight stamens and four part stigma.
Glory Bush
Showy, non-native shrub. Leaves with conspicuous parallel veins. Hooked stamens.
Melastome
Leaves with conspicuous parallel veins and flower with inferior ovary. Kakamega Forest.
Bracelet Honey Myrtle
Non-native forest and ornamental tree widely planted in Kenyan. Almost linear leaves and spikes of snowy-white flowers.
Brush Box
Exotic tree from Austalia with white flowers and gum-tree like fruit. Large elyptic leaves with smooth margins.
Muhutu
Large elyptic leaves clustered near branch ends. Fruit with papery wings.
Indian Almond
Substantial shade tree found in areas near the beach. The elliptical fruits can float. Large oblong leaves turn red before falling.
Anthocleista
Understory forest tree with tall slender stems and very large, spatulate leaves clustered at ends of branches.
Egyptian Starcluster
Now widespread around world as an ornamental. Kenya native herb with five-parted, long tubular flowers. Color is white, pink or red.
Flame of the Woods
Understory shrub with opposite, dark green, elliptical leaves. Four petals on a long tube. Common, introduced ornamental.
Kimolwet
Large, multistemmed shrub with opposite, dark green, simple, entire leaves. Fruit is spherical and orange-red.
Floating Pennywort
Floating plant of marshes and pond edges. Circular leaves are attached at their center and margins wavy.
Parasol Tree
Tall tree with straight bole. At a considerable height a set of 8 or more radial branches. Pinnate leaves close to a meter long.
Umbrella Tree
Tree with palmately compound leaves with long petioles and long petiolules. Small, cream-white flowers in umellules and spikes.
Queensland Umbrella Tree
Tall tree sparsely branched with very large palmately compound leaves. Red flowers arrayed in many radiating spikes a meter long.
Begonia
Begonias are readily recognized by their unique leaf shape. But many species make id beyond that more challenging.
Bad-Smell Melon
Cucumbers covered with fleshy spikes and releasing unpleasant odor when cut. Herbaceous vine with tendrils.
Bad-Smell Melon
Cucumbers covered with fleshy spikes. Herbaceous vine with tendrils. Rather large blooms with pleated/crinkled texture.
Raphidiocystis (?)
Herbaceous vine with simple tendrils, bright yellow flowers and fruit covered with long, stiff bristles.
Lobelia
Besides the giant Lobelias of the high mountains, there are many smaller wildflower species.
Camphor Bush
Large shrub to tree-sized member of sunflower family. Flowers white, in bi clusters of ray-less heads. Leaves elyptic and leathery.
Mexican Sunflower
Large yellow-orange composite, but smaller than seed sunflower. Leaves variously three-lobed. Mostly herbaceous up to two meters tall. Garden favorite.
More Composites/Asteraceae