Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Habitat and
distribution
Chlorophytum affine
Description
CHLOROPHYTUM 155
to distichous, 1–7 to a stem, more or less firm, sometimes distinctly
ribbed, petiolate, linear­lanceolate to lanceolate, glabrous, 5–30 ×
0.5–2 cm, outer ones wider, curved and cataphyll­like. Peduncles
often glabrous below and pubescent in the upper half, 5–25 cm
long. Pedicels 1–2 at each node, articulated below the middle, up
to 6 mm long in fruit. Flowers white, starlike, tepals 7–15 mm long,
3–5­veined, sometimes streaked brown or green on the outside.
Anthers longer than the filaments, often curled on drying. Style
slightly declinate, exserted. Capsule shallowly threelobed, smooth,
5–7 mm long, slightly emar ginate. Seeds irregularly folded, c. 1.5
mm across.
The species is found in overgrazed grassland and
degraded woodland, on blackish, brownish to reddish
more or less barren soils, between 1200 and 2000 m. It
has been recorded from Shewa, Sidamo, and Harerge
regions, and is otherwise widely distributed in tropical
Africa west to Nigeria and south to Angola, Zimbabwe
and Mozambique. It is a variable species constituting a
polyploid complex. The main flowering period is in April
to May.
18. Chlorophytum affine Baker
The species epithet ‘affine’ means neighbouring or
related to, and might refer to the fact that the plants often
grows in clumps due to efficient vegetative reproduction
by its branched underground rhizome. It was described
by Baker in 1875 based on plants from Tanzania. This
species was referred to as Chlorophytum tor dense Chiov.
in the Flora of Ethiopia and Eri trea (1997). When the
genus was revised for the Flora of Tropical East Africa,
it was found that the two taxa were conspecific, and as
C. affine is the oldest name, it has priority. The species
is characterised by its leaves that have a particular crossban
ded, pattern of white and green, not seen in other
species. The species is often divided in two varieties, the
Ethiopian material belongs to var. curviscapum (Poelln.)
Hanid, the epithet referring to the peduncle, which is
curved near the base.
Slender, tufted plants about 25 cm tall, from a distinctly moniliform
rhizome; roots thin and wiry with tubers, 1 × 0.5 cm. Leaves grasslike,
distichous, erect or falcate, linear, canaliculate, 15–20 × 0.4–
0.8 cm, sheathing below, margin and midrib distinctly ciliate. short
cataphylls, ciliate at margin and veins, with a characteristic crossbanded
pattern of white and green. Peduncle slender, arcuate below,