Is it a Cato? A pineapple? The bizarre plants that grow on the highest mountain in Africa

Kilimanjaro’s caricature is dotted by fun brown shapes. They seem to have it, and they get excited at the end. To survive, they have great weapons against the cold.

In Portuguese, it’s called Tasneirinhas. But these are giant versions: they look like giant cats with a pineapple at the end.

These bizarre plants are abundant non -arid kilimanjaro, The famous Tanzania volcano, known for being the highest mountain in all of Africa.

So giant plants do Kilimanjaro(Dendrosnecio Kilimanjari) Altitudes grow between 2,800 and 4,000 meters, where they receive enough rain to survive, according to the quiet tourist operator Kilimanjaro to

It also says that this mountain “creates its own climate”, with temperatures that can oscillate between the base, hot and wet, to the top, where they are reached 29ºC negative.

But these curious plants are not afraid of the cold: when their leaves die, they fold the stem and create a thick isolation layer against low temperatures. In addition, the giant plants expel “anti -engineering” substances that allow them to grow above the tree line.

According to the tourist operators, the giant plants Grow 2.5 to 5 centimeters Per year, which means that the highest specimens may be at least 100 years old.

Some may even reach 6 to 9 meters high, but only a few centimeters a year grow. According to a genetic made by botanists, published in the magazine PNASthe plants have colonized the Kilimanjaro in the last 1 million years and the giant plants have evolved as certain species have adapted to hostile conditions and migrated to the mountain.