24.03.2013 Views

Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

154 ANTHERICACEAE<br />

Chlorophytum<br />

subpetiolatum<br />

Description<br />

Fig. 80.<br />

Chlorophytum<br />

subpetiolatum,<br />

from near<br />

Assosa, Wellega<br />

floristic region.<br />

1000 <strong>and</strong> 1650 m. It is known from the Bale <strong>and</strong> Sidamo<br />

floristic regions in <strong>Ethiopia</strong>, <strong>and</strong> it is otherwise only<br />

known from adjacent areas in Kenya. The main flowering<br />

period is April, but it probably has a second period also<br />

in October.<br />

17. Chlorophytum subpetiolatum (Ba ker) Kativu<br />

The species epithet refers to the leaves that are slightly<br />

petiolate, a trait that is not very common in the genus. It<br />

was descri bed in the genus Anthericum by Baker in 1876,<br />

based on plants from Mozambique, <strong>and</strong> transferred to<br />

Chlorophytum by Ka tivu in 1993. The species is among<br />

the few that have potential as an ornamental in the genus,<br />

due to its relatively large (about 2.5 cm in diameter)<br />

pure white star-like flowers in dense inflorescences. It is<br />

further re cognised by having distichous leaves (more or<br />

less in two ranks) <strong>and</strong> by the roots that are fusiform, i.e.<br />

swollen at the middle, <strong>and</strong> tapering to each end like a<br />

spindle, lacking tubers otherwise common in the genus.<br />

Plants 10–30 cm. Rhizome moniliform; roots spongy, fusiform,<br />

swollen at the base, tapering towards the tips. Leaves subdistichous

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!