Marine Botany of the Kenya Coast 3. General Account of the Environment, Flora and Vegetation

Abstract

From north to south, Kenya extends over about 10? latitude while the coastline has a latitudinal extent of about a third of this-from about latitude 1? 40""S. to about 4?41""S. Further, as compared with the coasts of Norway or the west of Scotland the coastline of Kenya is relatively little indented. Where the coastline is broken or where there are deep inlets, these are in the nature of creeks flanked by mangrove which are characteristic especially of the extreme north and south of this region. The total coastal area of Kenya is relatively small. While the land surface of Kenya extends well north of the equator, the coastline lies entirely to the south of it. (Fig. 1). The algal flora of the Kenya coast is a rich one and much work will be involved in collecting and identifying all the species that occur on these coasts. A number of new species can also be expected two new Turbinarias have already been description bed (Taylor, 1966). The species named in this paper and included in the two lists so far published (Isaac, 1967, 1968) by no means exhaust the roll call of species. The number of small epiphytic species is likely to be appreciable.