Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

204 HYACINTHACEAE
Description
Habitat and
distribution
Ornithogalum
donaldsonii
Description
Habitat and
distribution
Ornithogalum
tenuifolium
filiform leaves and its few-flowered inflorescence.
Small plants up to 15 cm tall. Bulb up to 2 cm in diameter. Leaves
filiform, up to 12 cm long. Scape up to 8 cm. Inflorescence with
2–10 white flowers. Pedicels 5–20 mm. Tepals c. 4 mm long, with
few scattered veins. Filaments triangular. Ovary on a short delicate
stalk, 0.3 mm long. Capsule 3–4 mm long, with seeds 1.2–2 mm
across.
The plants grow on shallow soils on granite outcrops
around 1450 m, only recorded in the Sidamo floristic
region. It is otherwise found in Kenya and Uganda. In
Ethiopia it flowers in April.
2. Ornithogalum donaldsonii (Rendle) Greenway
The species epithet refers to the collector, Donaldson
Smith, who collected the plant in Harerge. It was
described in the genus Albuca by Rendle in 1896 and
later transferred to Ornithogalum by Greenway in 1969.
It is easily recognised by its long pedicels (longer than
2.5 cm) and large flowers (tepals longer than 15 mm).
Robust plants, 20–50 cm tall. Bulb up to 6 cm in diameter. Leaves
lanceolate c. 40 × 3.5 cm. Inflorescence with 50–150 flowers.
Pedicels 2.5–3.5 cm long. Bracts lanceolate, up to 3.5 cm. Tepals
15–17 mm long, with 3 or 5 distinct green veins. Filaments flattened,
triangular, c. 10 mm long. Ovary on a short wide stalk. Capsule c. 15
mm long. Seeds c. 8 mm in diameter.
The species is found in woodland, bush land or wooded
grassland from 850 to 1520 m, recorded from the Sidamo,
Bale and Harerge floristic regions. It is otherwise found
in Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania. The flowering period
in Ethiopia is from May to April, in the south also from
October to November.
3. Ornithogalum tenuifolium Delaroche
The species epithet means with narrow leaves, in reality
not very characteristic of the species. It was described
in 1811 without known origin. It is robust like O.
donaldsonii, but differs by the shorter pedicels and the
smaller flowers.