Sensitive Wood-Sorrel
Biophytum abyssinicum
Growing in a shady ravine along the Kacheliba Road, West Pokot, Kenya. July 2014.
These diminutive plants use an exquisite mechanism as defense against damage from browsers and storm damage. Upon being physically disturbed the leaves fold down like a little umbrella. Most plants are entirely herbaceous and less than 10 cm tall. Flowers are small, with five petals, and orange-yellow. Widely distributed across Africa in moist, shady environments.