Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Description
Habitat and
distribution
DRIMIOPSIS LEDEBOURIA 191
Plants up to 20 cm long. Leaves broadly lanceolate, up to 17 × 8 cm.
Inflorescence subspicate, pedicels ca 1 mm long. Tepals white, ca 3
mm long, outer ones spreading at anthesis, inner connivent, usually
wider than the outer.
The species is only known from bushland, altitude not
known. It is rare and has only been recorded from the
Sidamo floristic region (possibly crossing the border into
Bale). The Ethiopian material represents the northernmost
extension of the species, otherwise widespread in Eastern
Africa. The flowering period in Ethiopia is from April to
May.
4. LEDEBOURIA Roth
This genus is closely related to Drimiopsis, including
plants with basal leaves which are spotted and narrowly
to broadly lanceolate. Ledebouria differs, however,
by having reflexed tepals, revealing the stamens and
style, which are hidden by the tepals in Drimiopsis. The
flowers are further supported by bracts, and the flowers
always have purplish­violet stamens and style, often also
the tepals. All taxa described before 1970 were originally
included in the genus Scilla, a genus with blue tepals,
distributed mainly in Europe to Asia Minor and Caucasus,
possibly also with representatives in Africa. To define the
generic boundaries more investigations are needed. It is
clear, however, that Ledebouria is more closely related to
Drimiopsis than to Scilla.
In Ledebouria the scape is more or less flexuous to
prostrate. The inflorescence is a lax to dense raceme,
with flowers supported by minute bracts. The pedicels
are erect to ascending. The tepals, green to purplish, are
free or united at the base, reflexed for shorter or longer
parts of their length. The filiform filaments are fused with
to the tepals at the base. The ovaries are slightly stalked
(‘stipitate’) with few ovules. The capsules and seeds are
otherwise similar to those found in Drimiopsis.
The genus Ledebouria includes some 20 species in
Africa, Arabia and India, of which 6 are represented in
Ethiopia. Taxonomically it is a complicated group, and
more field observations are welcomed.