Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Dioscorea
quartiniana
Description
Habitat and
distribution
Dioscorea cochleariapiculata
1. Dioscorea quartiniana A. Richard
DIOSCOREA 309
The specific epithet ‘quartiniana’ was given in honour
of the French Botanist, Quartin­Dillon who collected the
type specimen from Aderbati in Tigray floristic region.
The species was described in 1851 by A. Richard.
It differs from the other Dioscorea species with
compound leaves (D. cochleari-apiculata and D.
dumetorum) by having 3–5 leaflets and unarmed stems.
In contrast, D. cochleari-apiculata and D. du me torum
have 3 leaflets and stems with spines.
Unarmed climber, 2–6 m long. Stems glabrous or sparsely pubescent.
Bulbils rarely present, globose in outline, 0.7 × 0.7 cm, flushed
purple. Tubers annual, 8–15 cm long, generally thin and assembled
together in groups of 3–6. Leaves alternate with (1–)3–5(–7) leaflets;
petiole 0.1–0.5(–1) cm long; leaflets with petiolule 0.1–0.3 (–0.5)
cm long, extremely variable in size and shape, usually broadest in
the lower two­thirds, 2–14 × 1–8 cm, acute to acuminate or rounded
at the apex, rounded to cuneate at the base, often at least thinly hairy
beneath. Male inflorescences: 2–10 pedunculate catkins in the axils
of leaves or in pendulous leafless axillary panicles, up to 30 cm long;
peduncle 0.3–3 cm long; catkins 0.6–3(–4) cm long; axis not visible
between the flowers; bracts usually concave, ovate, acuminate.
Male flowers: perianth completely hidden by the bracts; stamens 3;
staminodes 3. Female inflorescences: one to several axillary spikes
with flowers close together at first, the internodes elongating greatly
with age; spikes pendulous, 7–18 cm long. Female flowers: perianth
and ovary pubescent. Capsule oblong­elliptic, 2–3.7 × 1–1.7 cm,
glabrescent, reflexed. Seeds winged on basal side only.
The species grows in Acacia-Commi phora woodland,
deciduous wooded grassland with Anogeissus, Boswellia,
Acacia and Cussonia species, grassland with
thickets and riparian forests between 1200 and 2650
m and is widespread in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is also
common west to Gambia and south to Transvaal and on
Madagascar. The main flowering period in Ethiopia is
from April to June; sometimes in September.The tubers
are edible after detoxification and are used as a famine
food.
2. Dioscorea cochleari-apiculata De Wild
The specific epithet ‘cochleari-apiculata’ refers to the
spoon­shaped (cochleari) api cal part of the leaf ending
abruptly in a short point (apiculata). The species was