Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

218 COLCHICACEAE
Habitat and
distribution
Merendeera
schimperiana
The species grows in open grassland with scat tered
Acacia abyssinica, Euclea scrub, degraded Juniperus-
Olea remnants, open shallow soil, on bare gravely soil
and in Acacia drepanolobium dominated grassland on
black clay soil between 1500 and 2600 m in Tigray,
Gonder, Shewa, Arsi, Bale, Sidamo and Harerge floristic
regions in Ethi opia and in Eritrea. It also occurs in Kenya,
Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe to South Africa. The main
flowering period in Ethiopia is from April to July.
4. MERENDERA Ramond
The genus includes geophytic herbs. The underground
organ, the corm, is covered with tunics. The leaves are
basal. The flowers are solitary or 2, rarely 3. The stamens
are, inserted at the base of the perianth segments. The
filaments are filiform and the anthers are versatile or
basifixed. The ovary is 3-locular and the 3 styles are
filiform, each with small and capitate stigmas.
The genus is represented by 15 species in Africa,
Europe, and western Asia, and by a single species in
Ethiopia.
The genus has recently been included in Colchicum by
Nordenstam (1998). However, in our opinion the shape of
the perianth and the style characters are distinct enough
to keep it separate from Colchicum.
Merendera schimperiana Hochst.
The specific epithet ‘schimperiana’ was given in honour
of the famous German plant collector, Wilhem George
Schimper who had collected plants in Ethiopia between
1837–63, and from whose collection the type was
designated. The species was described by Hochstetter in
1842 with the type material collected between Enchet Kab
and Schoata in the Gonder floristic region by Schimper. It
was also known by the name M. abyssinica, described by
A. Richard in 1851 from plants collected in the Tekezze
Valley and Oudgerate in the Tigray floristic region.
The species is mainly characterised among the other
members in the family by its brilliant purple coloured
perianth segments and yellow anthers.