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.

166 AMARYLLIDACEAE<br />

Scadoxus nutans<br />

Description<br />

Fig. 81.<br />

Scadoxus<br />

nutans, from<br />

near Bonga, Kefa<br />

floristic region.<br />

1. Scadoxus nutans (Friis & I. Bjørnstad) Friis &<br />

Nordal<br />

The species epithet ‘nutans’ refers to the nodding flower<br />

heads, a trait by which this species is easily recognised.<br />

In spite <strong>of</strong> its showy appearance, it was not described<br />

until 1971 by Friis <strong>and</strong> Bjørnstad (then in the genus<br />

Haemanthus), based on material from the Kefa Floristic<br />

region. Five years later it was transferred to the genus<br />

Scadoxus by Friis <strong>and</strong> Nordal.<br />

Herb, 30–50 (–100) cm high. Leaves forming a distinct false stem,<br />

25–40 cm, through which the inflorescence <strong>and</strong> new shoots pierce,<br />

leaf blade up to 40 × 8 cm. Inflorescence bracts short <strong>and</strong> partly<br />

fused, supporting the dense nodding inflorescence <strong>of</strong> 20–30 flowers.<br />

Pedicels up to 1 cm. Tepals red to scarlet with a tube <strong>of</strong> 8 mm,<br />

segments ascending about 20 × 2 mm. Fruit­st<strong>and</strong> ultimately erect<br />

with ovoid berries about 15 mm long.

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

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!