Rwenzori-Virunga montane moorlands
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The Rwenzori-Virunga montane moorlands form an Afrotropic montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion above 3,000 meters in central Africa, spanning the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda across the glaciated Rwenzori Mountains and the volcanic Virunga Mountains. Its high slopes carry a distinctive Afroalpine vegetation of ericaceous woodland with Philippia and tree heath (Erica arborea), Dendrosenecio woodland, tussock grassland, and Helichrysum scrub, alongside the giant lobelias and groundsels characteristic of equatorial mountains, with Hagenia abyssinica woodland lower down. Despite sitting near the equator, the extreme high-altitude climate sends night temperatures below freezing and back above by day, though frequent cloud cover moderates these swings compared with other East African peaks. The ecoregion is almost entirely protected, with roughly 99 percent falling within Virunga, Rwenzori Mountains, and Volcans national parks, the latter ranges also sheltering the mountain gorilla. For gardeners, its native giant heathers (Erica) and Helichrysum everlastings are familiar ornamental genera, though they are adapted to cool, misty, frost-prone conditions.
About the montane grasslands & shrublands biome
High-elevation grasslands, meadows, and shrublands above the treeline or in mountain basins, including alpine and páramo systems. Cool temperatures, intense sunlight, and specialized, often endemic flora characterize them.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.