Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Fig. 46. Aloe elegans, from near Axum, Tigray floristic region.
Habitat and
distribution
Aloe camperi
ALOE
89
green, sometimes obscurely spotted near base, slightly canaliculate
towards tip. Marginal spines 4–7(–9) per 10 cm, 2–3(–4) mm
high, brownish red. Inflorescences with 3–11 racemes, often ±
corymbose. Racemes subcapitate to cylindrical, 5–15 cm long,
dense (more than 10 flowers per cm). Bracts ovate, 7–12(–15) ×
2.5–4 mm, acuminate. Pedicel 10–20(–23 in fruit) mm long. Young
buds horizontal to slightly reflexed. Perianth sub cla vate, 21–26 mm
long, 3–6/6–9 mm wide when pressed, yellow, orange or scarlet;
outer segments free for 7–13 mm.
The species grows in rocky slopes, mostly on sandstone
or limestone, in areas of evergreen bushland or wooded
grassland between 1500 and 2400 m in Tigray, Welo,
Gojam and Shewa floristic regions in Ethi opia and in
Eritrea. It is so far not known anywhere else, but A.
sinkatana Reynolds, described from the Red Sea Hills
of Sudan is closely related and possibly not specifically
distinct. The main flowering period is from September to
December, also occa sionally from March to May.
31. Aloe camperi Schweinfurth
The specific epithet ‘camperi’ is, according to
Schweinfurth, given in honour of ‘an esteemed friend
Manfredo Camperio, who did so much for the Italian
Colony of Eritrea’. The species was described in 1894