Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Aloe otallensis
ALOE
87
southwestern Ethiopia. It is also known from southern
Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania. The common flowering
period in Ethiopia is from April to May, sometimes also
in August to December.
29. Aloe otallensis Baker
The specific epithet ‘otallensis’ refers to the place of
growth, Otalla from where the type collection was made
by Ruspoli and Riva. The species was described in
1898 from the type material collected in Ahele Bekaka,
between Coromme and Otalla in Sidamo floristic region.
It had also been known by other names: A. boranensis
described by Cufodontis in 1939 from plants collected
near Dubuluk, north of Mega in the same region. Reynolds
had also applied the name A. wrefordii to refer to plants
(from Ethiopia) that belong to this species. A. wrefordii in
the strict sense is restricted to East Africa.
A. otallensis is unique among the Ethiopian aloes by the
unusually ornamented midribs of the outer perianth lobes,
a character not known in any other species; the glaucous
colour of the vegetative parts of the inflorescence; and
Fig. 45. Aloe otallensis, from Arba Minch, Gamo Gofa floristic region.