Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

40 ALOES AND LILIES OF ETHIOPIA
Key to the families
Families treated in this book are in bold.
1. Tepals situated below the ovary. 2
- Tepals situated above the ovary 13
2. Leaves reduced to scales or spines, their function often fulfilled by modified
green branches (cladodes), which sometimes are leaflike (phylloclades)
Asparagaceae (p. 289)
- Leaves in rosettes or along climbing stems 3
3. Climbing plants with leathery heart-shaped leaves, stems often prickly
Smilacaceae (p. 321)
- Non-climbing herbs with rosettes of linear to lanceolate leaves which are not
leathery 4
4. Plants either with a woody trunk and leaves in rosettes at ends of branches or
with short stems producing leaves in clumps, leaves with fibers; fruit a berry
Dracaenaceae (p. 274)
- Plants without a woody trunk (or if with a trunk, then leaves are fleshy and
without fibers, i.e. Aloe); fruit a capsule 5
5. Inflorescences on leafy scapes 6
- Inflorescences on leafless scapes 8
6. Plants with bulbs, cultivated only Liliaceae
- Plants with rhizomes, corms or tubers 7
7. Ovary with 3 free styles Colchicaceae (p. 210)
- Ovary with 1 style Anthericaceae (p. 127)
8. Plants with 1—3 leaves, small yellowish flowers, hairy seeds
Eriospermaceae (p. 271)
- Plants most often with more than 3 leaves, flowers, white, yellowish or red;
seeds never with hairs 9