Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

238 IRIDACEAE
Description
Habitat and
distribution
Romulea
camerooniana
Description
Plant (1–)7–12 cm high excluding leaves. Corm globose, tapering
below to an oblique rounded base, 7–10 mm in diameter, tunics
woody or cartilaginous, red­brown. Foliage leaves (2–)3–5, mostly
8–15 mm long, oblong in transverse section. Flowering stems 1–4
per plant, more or less erect, becoming slightly falcate after anthesis.
Outer bracts green, usually with narrow membranous margins, inner
bracts with broad scarious margins streaked with brown, 12–18 mm
long, as long as or slightly shorter than the outer. Flowers blue,
purple, or violet, occasionally almost white, yellow in the centre,
tepals with bands of darker pigment over 3 main veins, particularly
so on reverse; perianth tube 4–5 mm long; tepals lanceolate, erect
below, curving outwards above, 10–16 × 3–4 mm. Style dividing
between the upper third and apex of the anthers, branches c. 1.5
mm long, usually arching outward shortly above anther apices,
occasionally exceeding anthers by 2–3 mm. Capsules ovoid­oblong,
7–10 mm long.
This species grows on rocky sites, along track, often in
heavily grazed grassland between 2200 and 4200 m. It
is widespread in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It also occurs in
the Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Ugan da, and Saudi Arabia.
The main flowering period in Ethiopia is from August
to October.
2. Romulea camerooniana Baker
The specific epithet ‘camerooniana’ refers to the country
of origin where the collection was made, Cameroon. The
species was described by Baker in 1876 from a plant
collected from Mt. Cameroon by Mann.
The species is related to R. fischeri and difficult to
distinguish from that species, but in this species the
inner bracts are green, or with pale narrow membranous
margins. In R. fischeri, the inner bracts have irregularly
brown streaks.
Plant 5–8 cm high excluding leaves. Corm ovoid, tapering below to
a blunt point, 8–15 mm in diameter, tunics woody or cartilaginous,
red-brown, usually extending upward in a fibrous neck around base
of stem. Foliage leaves 2(–3) plus one more for each additional
flowering stem, oval in transverse section usually straight. Flowering
stems 1–4 per plant, more or less erect. Outer bracts green and
lightly striate, 12–18 mm long, inner bracts similar or often with
narrow mem branaceous margins, as long as or slightly shorter than
outer. Flowers blue, purple, or violet, yellow in centre, tepals with
darker bands of pigment over 3 main veins, particularly so on the
reverse; perianth tube 7–8 mm long. Style dividing opposite upper