Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

308 DIOSCOREACEAE
- Leaves ovate-lanceolate, basal lobes sometimes auriculate; length/width
ratio more than 1.8; perianth 15–2 mm long, base scarious; flowers axis
slender; roots thorny 10. D. sagittifolia
Key to plants with female flowers or fruits
1. Leaves compound, leaflets all entire 2
- Leaves simple, entire or lobed 4
2. Plants unarmed; leaflets (1–)3–5(–7) 1. D. quartiniana
- Plants armed with stem spines; leaflets 3 3
3. Leaflets up to 28 cm long, 3–5-nerved; capsules puberulous
at maturity, 5–7 × 25 cm 2. D. cochleari-apiculata
- Leaflets up to 16 cm long, usually 3-nerved; capsules glabrous
at maturity, 25–45 × 1.4–2.4 cm 3. D. dumetorum
4. Capsules longer than broad, reflexed; seeds winged at the basal end
5. D. bulbifera
- Capsules broader than long; seeds without a wing or winged all round 5
5. Plants pubescent with stellate hairs 6.D. schimperiana
- Plant glabrous 6
6. Plants with stems less than 2 m long; seeds without a wing 4. D. gillettii
- Plants with stems 3–15 m long; seeds winged all round 7
7. Stems 4-winged or 4-angled 7. D. alata
- Stems rounded, without wings or angles, sometimes slightly furrowed 8
8. Plants usually cultivated, with rather superficial tubers (numerous cultivars
and clones) and also in the wild; petioles not widened at the base; stems pricly
in the wild 8. D. cayenensis
- Plants usually wild, without superficial tubers; petioles widened at the base;
stems unarmed 9
9. Leaves cordate-ovate, basal lobes rounded; length/width ratio
generally less than 1.8 9. D. abyssinica
- Leaves ovate-lanceolate, basal corners sometimes auriculate;
length/width ratio more than 1.8 10. D. sagittifolia