Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Habitat and
distribution
Dracaena
ellenbeckiana
Description
DRACAENA 277
lobes 14 × 2–3 mm. Ovary obovo id, 4 × 2.5 mm; stigma­lobes not
well developed. Fruits orange, globose or two–three­lobed, 12–16 ×
12–20 mm. Seeds dirty white, 6–9 mm in diameter.
The species grows in moist undergrowth of montane
forest, often along streams between 1750 and 2800 m
in Tigray, Shewa, Harerge, Kefa, Illubabor and Wel lega
floristic regions. It also occurs in east Africa, west to
eastern Zaire and south to Malawi. The main flowering
period in Ethiopia is from January to April, and also from
July to October.
2. Dracaena ellenbeckiana Engler
The specific epithet ‘ellenbeckiana’ was given in honour
of the collector of the type specimen, Ellenbeck. The
species was de scri bed by Engler in 1902 from a plant
collected from Sheikh Hussein in Bale floristic region.
It differs from the related species, D. afromontana by
having erect inflorescence and shorter perianth
Tree 3–8 m tall, usually producing several stems from a common
base. Branches few, bark silvery gray showing a reticulate pattern of
leaf scars, older stems longitudinally fissured. Leaves pale greyish
green, up to 65 × 9 cm, acuminate. Inflorescence paniculate, erect,
up to 80 cm long, with 2–3 racemose branches at each node, which
Fig. 121. Dracaena ellenbeckiana, from between Mega and Megado, Sidamo
floristic region.