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Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

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296 ASPARAGACEAE<br />

Fig. 128. Asparagus flagellaris, (left) vegetative plant from Wellega floristic<br />

region, (right) flowering specimen.<br />

Description<br />

Habitat <strong>and</strong><br />

distribution<br />

Asparagus falcatus<br />

Erect shrub to 2 m high. Branches glabrous, terete or grooved,<br />

smooth to lined with spines 2–4 mm long, straight or curved, seen<br />

also on terminal branches. Cladodes fasciculate, 1–8 together,<br />

subulate, stiff, 5–20(–60) mm long. Flowers axillary, solitary<br />

or paired; pedicels 5–10 mm long, articulated below the middle,<br />

sometimes near the base. Perianth white to purple (pink), ± equal<br />

2.5–3 mm long. Stamens shorter than the perianths. Ovary 3­locular<br />

with 1–2 ovules in each locule; style c. 1 mm long, slender <strong>and</strong><br />

3­branched stigma. Fruit orange red, 5–7 mm in diameter with 1<br />

(sometimes 3) seeds. Seeds black, rounded, rugose.<br />

The species grows in Acacia-Commi pho ra, Combretum-<br />

Terminalia, <strong>and</strong> Teclea-Aco kan thera woodl<strong>and</strong> between<br />

650 <strong>and</strong> 1800 m in Tigray, Gonder, Gojam, Wellega,<br />

Illubabor, <strong>and</strong> Sidamo floristic regions in <strong>Ethiopia</strong> <strong>and</strong> in<br />

<strong>Eritrea</strong>. It also occurs in Somalia, Sudan, Ug<strong>and</strong>a, Kenya,<br />

Tanzania, Zaire, Central African Republic to W. Africa.<br />

The main flowering period in <strong>Ethiopia</strong> is from January to<br />

June <strong>and</strong> from October to December.<br />

5. Asparagus falcatus L.<br />

The specific epithet ‘falcatus’ refers to the curved or<br />

sickle­shaped cladodes. The species was described by<br />

Linnaeus in 1753 from a plant collected in Sri Lanka<br />

(Ceylon) by Burmann.<br />

The species is easily recognised from the related<br />

species, A. aridicola, by the thin <strong>and</strong> flexible cladodes

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