Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

176 AMARYLLIDACEAE
Notes
Crinum abyssinicum
Description
FIg. 86. Crinum
abyssinicum,
from near
Dinshu, Bale
floristic region.
along rivers or in swampy depressions, on red sandy or
dark brown loamy soils, between 650 and 2000 m. It
is recorded from the Tigray, Shewa, Kefa, Arsi, Bale,
Gojam, Illubabor and Harerge floristic regions, with its
northernmost limit in Eritrea. This species is otherwise
widespread in a transition zone between forest and
savannah in Tropical Africa, west to Senegal and south
to Namibia. The flowering period in Ethiopia is from
April to June, except in Kefa where it appears to flower
in February.
This taxon was regarded as conspecific with C. zeylanicum
(L.) L. by Nordal (1982) in the Flora of Tropical East
Africa (like Linnaeus 230 years earlier). The two taxa
are morphologically similar, but recent investigations,
including molecular data, have suggested that the African
C. ornatum and the Asiatic C. zey la nicum, although
closely related, should be kept as two different species.
4. Crinum abyssinicum Hochst. ex A.Rich.
The specific epithet refers to the Latin name for Ethiopia,
‘Abyssinia’, where the species was discovered by
Hochstetter, and later described by A. Richard in 1850.
This species is the most common Ethiopian Crinum. Its
closest relative is C. ornatum, differing by its glaucous
leaves and the completely white or faintly pink­tinged
tepals.
Leaves glaucous to greyish green, erect, linear to narrowly lanceolate,
mostly with intact apices and distinct midrib, 40 × 1–3.5 (–5) cm.
Scape 40–80 cm. Involucral bracts erect for a while, papery. Flowers