Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Fig. 135.
Dioscorea
abyssinica, from
Tikil Dingay,
Gonder floristic
region.
Habitat and
distribution
DIOSCOREA 317
base; 5–7nerved; venation on either side of the midrib fairly close.
Male inflorescences: 3–6 spikes, 2–7(–10) cm long in the axils
of leaves. Male flowers: perianth segments sub orbicular. Female
inflorescences: 1–2 spikes, 8–15 cm long in the axils of leaves.
Capsule glaucous, slightly emarginate at the apex, 2–2.2 x3–3.5 cm.
Seed with wing all round, 1.5–2 × 1.5–2 cm.
The species grows in woodland or wooded grassland
with species of Combretum, Ter minalia, Stereospermum,
Oxytenan thera, be tween 1000 and 1800 m in Tigray,
Gonder, Gojam, Wellega, Kefa, Gamo Gofa, and Sidamo
floristic regions in Ethiopia, and in Eritrea. It is
also widespread west to Senegal. The distribution of the
species may not be as wide as is indicated here. However,
this requires a need for further field observation and clear
morphological separation from D. cayenensis complex.
The main flowering period in Ethiopia is from July to
October.