Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

146 ANTHERICACEAE
Habitat and
distribution
Chlorophytum
pterocarpum
Description
Habitat and
distribution
Leaves 2–5, rosulate, lanceolate 8–14 × ca. 1.5 cm, acute, with
hyaline margin. Peduncle slender, scabrid, leafless, 5–7 cm long.
Inflorescence a simple raceme; rachis ± puberulous; bracts, narrow,
membranaceous, up to 3 mm long. Flowers inconspicuous, one at
each node (rarely 2 at the lower node); pedicels suberect, 3 mm long
at anthesis, glabrous, articulated near to slightly above the middle.
Tepals semi­patent, whitish, 6 mm long, 3­veined. Stamens shorter
than the perianth. Capsule trigonous, indistinctly transversely
ridged, 6–9 × 9–12 mm, emarginate, with withered remnants of the
perianth at the base. Seeds flat to slightly folded, 2 mm across.
The species is probably growing in shallow, poorly
drained soils (whitish silt) on limestone. This information
is from Somalia, there is no data on the ecology of the
species in Ethiopia, where it is only known from the type
locality ‘between Marta and Djaro’, supposedly in the
Bale floristic region. It is also found in Somalia and NE
Kenya. Main flowering time supposedly from April to
May.
8. Chlorophytum pterocarpum Nordal & Thulin
The species epithet ‘pterocarpum’ refers to the fruits
which has three wing­like compartments (pteros = wing
in Greek). It is a small, inconspicuous species, described
by Nordal and Thulin, as late as in 1993, based on material
collected from Sof Omar in the Bale floristic region. It is
distinct within the genus by its fruit shape.
Small plants up to 10 cm high, from a very short rhizome; roots
swollen, narrow in the proximal part, then expanding to a tuberlike
structure 1.5–2.5 × 0.5 cm. Leaves 2–5, rosulate, lanceolate,
5–7 × c. 1.5 cm, often prostrate, with a finely undulate-crispate
hyaline margin. Peduncle slender, glabrous, leafless, 3–5 cm
long. Inflorescence a simple raceme, rachis glabrous; flowers,
inconspicuous, 1 at each node; pedicels stiffly patent, 5–12 mm
long at anthesis, articulated near the apex, c. 1 mm below the
flower. Tepals semi patent, subequal, oblong, whitish, 6–8 mm
long, 3-veined. Capsule deeply 3-lobed, with three flat winglike
compartments, slightly transversely ridged, 6–9 × 9–12 mm,
emarginate, with whi thered remnants of the perianth at the base.
Seeds thin, flat, black, c. 3­4 mm across.
This small and inconspicuous plant is known from
Acacia-Commiphora woodland/bushland on limestone
between 1400 and 1500 m. It is a narrow endemic in the
Bale floristic region. It has been collected in fruit in April
and in October.