comments on the Ethiopian flora
John Grimshaw (Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:50:13 PDT)

[Karen Mountfield told us the news that she is going to Ethiopia later this
year, and several people have made suggestions as to what she should look
out for.]

I spent three weeks in Ethiopia in September-October2003 and am leading an
Alpine Garden Society tour there again this September. To be very
simplistic, Ethiopia consists of two big blocks of highlands rising on each
side (N & S) of the Great Rift Valley. These are the core of the old
Christian Abyssinian Empire from the plains and because of their altitude
are reasonably well-watered and reasonably fertile. They are densely
populated by both people and domestic stock. Away from the highlands, all
round their bases, is very arid, low dry bush country and desert conditions,
much more sparsely populated. Botanically of course these two types of
country have very different floras - again this is being very simplistic and
of course each area has its own array of conditions and habitats. Rainfall
is usually not too bad in the highlands, but the lower areas are very arid.
The country receives its rainfall in the northern summer, tailing off during
September. By November it will probably be quite dry and dusty.

Without knowing Karen's itinerary it is difficult to make precise
recommendations, but the single most important point about the natural
vegetation of the highlands is that there is VERY LITTLE LEFT. The
population pressure (over 70 million people in Ethiopia and 40 million head
of cattle) has led to almost every square yard of the country being taken
over for agriculture, grazing lands and settlement, at least in the
highlands. What is left is is under constant pressure. Going north from
Addis Ababa towards the famous historical sites of Gonder and Lalibela the
only patches of 'natural vegetation' we saw were on roadside banks or other
places too rocky or inaccessible to plough. Such sites give an idea of the
riches of the flora: I recall one tiny 10 x 10 m patch where amongst
Kniphofia was Gladiolus abyssinicus and an Arisaema in fruit. We saw neither
of these two anywhere else. Being grazing-resistant the pokers are more
abundant than most wild plants, but they still occur only in limited areas.

Southwards the situation is a little easier. In 2003, as we shall do this
year, we went to the Bale mountains south of the rift valley, where the
Sanetti Plateau at over 4000 m is Africa's largest alpine area, and not yet
too badly damaged. In addition to the plants it has some extremely
interesting fauna, including the biggest surviving population of Ethiopian
Wolves - lovely reddish animals, very tame and easy to see, the endemic
Mountain Nyala and all sorts of interesting birds. Along the way the road
passes through dense population and cultivation but there are some areas
where the natural vegetation is less damaged and some good plants can be
found. Among them are quite a few monocots, including several Kniphofia
(sometimes in large quantity), two or three Arisaema, a couple of Gladiolus
etc. And lots of other interesting plants including the tuberous Impatiens
rothii, shrubby, scarlet-flowered Acanthus senii and best of all the big,
bright-blue Delphinium wellbyi whose flowers smell of orange blossom. In the
mountains the botanical big-game hunter is in search of Lobelia
rhynchopetalum, whose fat inflorescences tower into the sky from a huge
rosette. It is not difficult to spot.

So there are good plants in Ethiopia, but one cannot go expecting drifts of
Gladiolus murieliae all over the place.(Wish I knew where to find it
though!)

There is also an excellent multi-volume 'Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea',
almost complete, allowing one's discoveries to be identified. More
convenient, especially for the monocots, is a pocket-sized book 'Flowers of
Ethiopia and Eritrea; Aloes and other lilies' by Sebsebe Demissew
(Ethiopia's top botanist), I. Nordal & O.E. Stabbetorp, published in Addis
Ababa by Shama Books. It is basically a photographically illustrated version
of the Flora's monocot volume, though it unfortunately leaves out Araceae. I
have just checked and find that it is not available through any
internet-linked book supplier.

John Grimshaw

Dr John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP

Tel. 01242 870567

COLESBOURNE PARK OPEN DAYS 2007
Easter Monday 9 April, Arboretum Weekend 15-16 September
Gates open 1pm, last entry 4 pm
website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/

----- Original Message -----
From: "studio pozzi taubert" <studio.pozzitaubert@tiscali.it>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 10:56 AM
Subject: Re: [pbs] Introduction

Hello Karen,

there is certainly in Ethiopia a rare flower you would try to find,
worthy to be grown in the garden: it is Arisaema enneaphyllum.

from Guy Gusman: " it is a tall plant with a pure white limb
curving above the spathe, up to 110 cm tall and 50 cm wide,
habitat grassy road banks in erica arborea shrubs; open grasslans,
rocky slopes, thicket margins, in shade of trees, near clearings at
margins of forest; 2000-3000 mts.
flowering from May to July; ripening time October to November "

the fruit spike is 8 cm long with berries about 10 mm long.
the tuber is subglobose, 8 cm across when mature.

In both his books he couldn't show a picture of the living plant but
only a herbarium specimen.

I cannot say if it is hardy but I think Gusman will be pleased to
tell you if it needs greenhouse care in your garden.

Anyway a picture of the plant, foliage and seeds, or the tuber ,
would be very interesting.

Have a nice journey,

Giorgio
Italy zone 7
Il giorno 12/lug/07, alle ore 19:27, Alberto Castillo ha scritto:

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