Acanthus pubescens

Description

One of the most characteristic forest margin species in Uganda and NW Tanzania. It often forms a 5–10 m wide belt between the forest and the tall grassland, thus protecting the forest from the grassfires and eventually allowing the forest to expand. Iversen in Symb. Bot. Ups. 29, 3: 160 (1991) reports A. pubescens from both E and W Usambara Mts. No species of Acanthus has been collected in the Usambaras; it is unclear what Iversens records refer to. White-flowered forms are apparently much more common in Uganda than elsewhere. Occasionally these are cultivated in Kenya.