Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Habitat and
distribution
Ledebouria revoluta
Fig. 93.
Ledebouria
revoluta,
cultivated plant
originally from
Welisso, Shewa
floristic region.
DRIMIOPSIS LEDEBOURIA 195
The species is found in clearings in bush land or
woodland between 1000 and 1980 m, recorded from
the Shewa, Sidamo, Bale, and Harerge floristic regions.
Outside Ethiopia it is widespread in Eastern Africa south
to Malawi (although recent molecular analyses might
indicate that it is a polyphyletic species, and that splitting
into more species might be justified). The flowering
period Ethiopia is two­peaked, around April and around
October.
6. Ledebouria revoluta (L.f.) Jessop
The species epithet refers to the revolute, meaning
reflexed tepals, (a trait certainly shared with most species
of Ledebouria). The son of Linnaeus described it on
material from the Cape, already in 1782, referring it to
the genus Hyacinthus. Jessop transferred it to Ledebouria