24.03.2013 Views

Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

276 DRACAENACEAE<br />

Dracaena<br />

afromontana<br />

Description<br />

Fig. 120.<br />

Dracaena<br />

afromontana,<br />

from Masha<br />

forest, Illubabor<br />

floristic region.<br />

1. Dracaena afromontana Mildbraed<br />

The specific epithet ‘afromontana’ refers to the<br />

afromontane habitat in which the plant grows. The<br />

species was described by Mild braed in 1914 from plants<br />

collected in Central Africa.<br />

It differs from the related species, D. ellenbeckiana by<br />

the inflorescence, which is sharp ly reflexed, <strong>and</strong> by the<br />

longer perianth.<br />

Shrub or shrubby tree, sometimes straggling, 2–6(–10) m tall, main<br />

trunk up to 25 cm in diameter, branches arching, hollow when<br />

dry. Leaves shiny dark green, paler below, thinly leathery, daggershaped,<br />

15–30 × 1.5–3 cm, acute. Inflorescence hanging, sharply<br />

reflexed, c. 20–40 cm long, axis about 5 mm in diameter. Flower<br />

pedicels 4–12 mm long, articulated c. 2 mm below the flower.<br />

Perianth 15 mm long, white, pale­green or with purple tinge outside,<br />

somewhat translucent <strong>and</strong> showing a single rib; tube c. 1 mm long,

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!