Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

326 VELLOZIACEAE
Distribution and
reproduction
Key to the species
The genus includes about 30 species, distributed in
Madagascar, the African continent and southwest Arabia.
Four species are recorded from Ethiopia.
Little is known of pollination, but the flower syndrome
indicates that large insects are involved. Relatives from
South America with similar flowers are known to be
pollinated by bees, hawkmoths, birds and bats. The seed
dispersal is ballistic, meaning that the seeds are kept
inside the capsule until strong wind or animals throw the
seeds out of slits or pores.
1. Plants 20–200 cm tall with well developed branches; leaves with
both simple and complex stiff flattened hairs in clusters on the
lower surface 4. X. spekei
- Plants usually less than 20 cm tall, unbranched or slightly branched;
leaves glabrous or with fine hairs 2
2. Ovary and fruit covered by globular gland-cells; leaves mostly in basal
rosette, sheaths not distinct, broken up into fibres 3. X. humilis
- Ovary and fruit densely covered by stiff non-glandular hairs;
leaves mostly on stems, sheaths remaining distinct, only splitting up into fibres
when old 3
3. Leaves mostly glabrous, sometimes a few hairs on the margins and lower
surface; only simple hairs present 1. X. schnizleinia
- Leaves mostly pubescent; both simple and complex hairs present
2. X. rippsteinii
Xerophyta
schnizleinia
1. Xerophyta schnizleinia (Hochstetter) Baker
The species is named to honour the German botanist
and pharmacist Adalbert Schniz lein. It was described
by Hochstetter in 1844 in the genus Hypoxis, ba sed on
material that Schimper collected in the Semien mountains.
Baker transferred it to Xerophyta in 1875.
This is a very variable species, the most widespread
of the Ethiopian taxa, and it is recognized by the almost
glabrous leaves and the densely haired capsules. It is a
complex species which should be studied further.