Thuma Forest reserve plant checklist

Thuma Forest Reserve was gazetted in 1926 and covers an area of roughly 19700 ha (197 km2) in the Great Rift Valley Escarpment near Lake Malawi, approximately 80 km from Malawi's capital Lilongwe. It is banked by the Lilongwe and Lithunda rivers and lies 80km outside of Salima district and connects to Dedza Forest Reserve. It was gazetted because of the governments special interest to elephant populations Its altitude varies from 575 to 1564 meters above sea level. The topography is rugged. The upper levels are covered in Brachystegia woodland (miombo) whilst the lower levels are characterized by mixed low altitude woodland with patches of bamboo. Thuma Forest Reserve lies 80km outside of Salima at an altitude of 1 500 meters and connects to Dedza Forest Reserve. The collection trip was organised from 4-6th June 2019 to collect Herbarium specimens from the reserve for scientific purposes. This was the first comprehensive fieldwork organised by National Herbarium to Thuma and the purpose was to go during the dry season and the rainy season to cover both herbaceous and higher plants.