Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

VELLOZIACEAE
325
This family includes about 8 genera, with a center of
diversity in South America. Only two, Xerophyta and
Talbotia, occur in Africa, the latter restricted to South
Africa. The family includes mainly shrubby perennials,
with branched stems covered by persistent leaf bases and
roots that form a mantle around the stems. The family is
probably old, and the Amphiatlantic distribution might
go back to the Gondwana continent in the southern
hemisphere. It was earlier believed to be related to the
family Hypoxidaceae, but modern analyses have not
supported this view. It is systematically isolated, and
may not be related to lilies at all. Molecular data indicate
a relationship to e.g. the screw palms (Pandanus), but
morphologically they have little in common.
XEROPHYTA Jussieu
The genus was described by Jussieu in 1789 and refers to
the adaptation to dry habitats (xero = dry, phyton = plant
in Greek). The function of the fibrous mantle around
the stems is to gather moisture from fogs and rains and
at the same time protect the stem from fires. Species
of the genus have been shown to survive down to 0%
relative humidity, and they revive after being more or
less completely dehydrated. In older floras the African
representatives was referred to Vellozia, a genus now
defined to include only South American members.
The plants are often more or less branched shrubs
with narrow, leathery, grass­like leaves tufted at the end
of the fibrous branches. The flowers are showy, pinkish
to whitish, solitary from leaf axils. They are bisexual
with an inferior ovary. The six petal­like tepals are free
or united into a basal tube. The filaments are flattened
and almost completely fused with the tepals so that the
anthers appear to be sessile. The fruits are hairy or sticky
capsules that opens by longitudinal slits or pores.