Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

20 ALOES AND LILIES OF ETHIOPIA
3. Wooded grassland of the Western Gambela
region (WGG)
This vegetation is characterised by a tall grass stratum
that burns annually and a canopy layer of trees that
can both tolerate burning and temporary flooding. The
most dominant species in the tree stratum are species of
Acacia, especially A. seyal and A. nilotica. The palms,
Hyphaene thebaica and Borassus aethiopium may also
occur. In the grass stratum species of Echinochloa,
Setaria, Hyparrhenia, Cymbopogon and Sorghum are
common. In the most flooded areas there are nearly pure
stands of Oryza, especially O. longistaminata. Moisture
tolerant herbs are also common in the flooded areas,
e.g. Caperonia serrata (Euphorbiaceae) and Thalia
geniculata (Maranthaceae).
This vegetation type occurs in Ethiopia only in the
western part of Gambela at altitudes between 400­450
m. Some of the lilies that occur in this vegetation type
include Chlorophytum cameronii and C. macrophyllum
(Anthericaceae). This vegetation type is marked in
neutral greyish green colour (Fig. 5).
4. Combretum-Terminalia woodland and
wooded grassland (CTW)
This vegetation type is characterized by small to moderate
sized trees with fairly large deciduous leaves mainly
represented by the family Combretaceae, Fabaceae
and Burseraceae. These include: Boswellia papyrifera,
Anogeissus leiocarpa, Combretum adenogonium, C.
hartmanianum, C. molle, C. rochetianum, C. collinum,
and species of Terminalia, e.g. T. schimperiana;
Lonchocarpus laxiflorus, Pterocarpus lucens, Dalbergia
melanoxylon, Pilistigma thonningii, Acacia hockii.
Other species known from this vegetation type include,
Stereospermum kunthianum, species of Lannea, e.g.
L. barteri and L. fruticosa, Sclerocarya birrea and
Vitex doniana. The solid­stemmed lowland bamboo
Oxytenanthera abyssinica is also a component of the
vegetation type in western Ethiopia. A number of grass
species in the genera Echinochloa, Setaria, Hyparrhenia,
Cymbopogon and Sorghum are characteristic of this