Above: Rosularia simensis (A. Rich) Ohba (Crassulaceae).
An endemic species from the high Semien Mts. sometimes placed in the monotypic genus Afrovivella A. Berger because of the distinctive large campanulate corolla. Illustration, drawn by Eleanor Catherine, for Vol. 3 of the Flora of Ethiopia.

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The "Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea" Project

Ethiopia and Eritrea - the countries

Ethiopia and Eritrea are countries on the Horn of Africa covering 1,127,750 and 125,750 Sq. Km. respectively. Ethiopia and Eritrea are mountainous countries, with extensive plateau and deep river gorges. Many mountains emerge from the plateau, and at least ten reach above 4000 m. The highest mountain peak is Ras Dejen in the Semien Mountains of Ethiopia (4543 m).

The two contries are located in the Sudanian and Sahelian vegetation zones, and they should therefore be expected to have a dry climate and vegetation dominated by woodland, wooded grassland and subdesert scrub. While this is true for the lowlands, the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands have climates and vegetations that are much modified by altitude, and much more plant diversity than should be expected.

One of the collaborators of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea, Prof. Chr. Puff, Vienna, has published a book about the plants of the Semien Mountains. A number of the photographs of the Semien Mountains can be seen here as a slide show. This area can serve as examples of the often astounding scenery and botanical variety of the countries.

The flora and the Flora

According to the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea (1989-2008) the number of wild plants in these countries is established at:

• 226 families (flowering lants: 187; gymnosperms 3, pteridophytes 36),

• 1480 genera (flowering plants 1401, gymnosperms 3, pteridophytes 76), and

• 5510 species (flowering plants 5315, gymnosperms 5, pteridophytes 190).

Several large plant families are economically important: grasses (Poaceae; 620 species), legumes (Fabaceae- Papilionoideae, ca. 500 species) and the sunflower family (Asteraceae, ca. 450 species).

Other P. families with over hundred species are: the Acanthus family (Acanthaceae), spurges (Euphorbiaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), milkweeds (Ascepiadaceae), orchids (Orchidaceae), labiates (Lamiaceae), the mallow family (Malvaceae), bindweeds (Convolvulaceae), fi gworts (Scrophulariaceae) and the coffee family (Rubiaceae).

Compared with other tropical African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea are fairly rich in wild plant species and richer than other areas at the same latitude.

In tropical Africa, Cameroon and Gabon have the highest species richness (4,000- 5,000/10,000 km²).

The average richness in Ethiopia is 1,500-2,000/10,000 km². This contrasts with lower average richness in countries west of Ethiopia: 500-1,000/10,000 km² in the Sudanian zone and 200-500/10,000 km² in the Sahel zone.

The higher richness in Ethiopia and Eritrea is due to a more varied climate, topography and geology than in the Sudan and the Sahel.

In Ethiopia and Eritrea the species richness is not evenly distributed: the highest richness (3,000-4,000/10,000 km²) is found in the former Sidamo, Šäwa and Käfa regions; however, the Eritrean coastal zone has a richness of only ca. 2,000/10,000 km² and ŸAfar only ca. 400/10,000 km². Variation in richness is again correlated with variation in altitude, rainfall and geology.

The Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea includes not only the indigenous wild plants, but also widely cultivated species. It is a medium sized to large African Flora manual, covering approximately 7,000 species of vascular plants.

The Flora was originally planned as a work in eight volumes, but several volumes have been divided into two parts due to the number of taxa to be included. So far five volumes, Vol. 2.1, Vol. 2.2, Vol. 3, Vol. 6 and Vol. 7, have been published.

The Flora gives a full description for each family, genus, species and infraspecific taxon.

Data are given on accepted names, including types from the Flora area, important synonyms (including all synonyms described on material from the Flora area), collectors and collection numbers of representative specimens, habitat and distribution. Where appropriate, additional information is given on uses. Vernacular names are also given in appendices with the use of the fidel, the special alphabet used for the Semitic languages of Ethiopia. See below for details on the individual volumes.

 

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The Project and the Herbarium
of the Natural History Museum of Denmark

The Ethiopian Flora Project was initiated in 1980 after a long planning period. Much of the research work for and all the editorial work and the printing of the Flora has been financed by SAREC, Sweden. The Danish involvement in the field work and other research aspects has been generously supported by the Carlsberg Foundation, Denmark.

Since 1980 the Botanical Museum and Libray has collaborated with the National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, the Department of Systematic Botany, University of Uppsala. and the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gadens, Kew, on the project. The involvement of the Botanical Museum has been:

(1) Prof. Ib Friis (english / danish version), Editorial Board member, has:

• contributed a number of family accounts,

• taken part in the general editing, and

• made many field trips to collect material for the study of the flora and vegetation in little known parts of Ethiopia

In 2010 the field work has been carried out for 40 years, since 1970.

 

Above: Map showing the collecting localities of the group associated with Ib Friis in Ethiopia and Eritrea and during one field trip to Somalia. The pale blue dots indicate all collecting localities from 1970 to 2005; the yellow, green, purple and red dots indicate the collections in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Below: A few sceneries from Prof. Ib Friis' collecting activities in Ethiopia:

(2) Senior Lecturer Olof Ryding, previously a staff member of Asmara University, Eritrea, joined the staff of the Botanical Museum and Library in 1994. He is the coordinator of the Lamiaceae (Labiatae) for the Ethiopian Flora Project and has contributed a number of genera to the account of that family as well as the Family Plantaginaceae.

(3) There is a general agreement between the National Herbarium of Ethiopia and the Botanical Museum and Library about help with regard to collecting equipment, conservation of specimens, etc. A botanical artist and technician has been trained in Copenhagen.

The collaboration between the Copenhagen and the Addis Ababa botanists is older than the Ethiopian Flora project; it goes back to 1970 when the first joint field work was started.

The early work concentrated on the forests of South West Ethiopia (Kefa, Illubabor). These results were published in the volume:

Friis, I., F.N. Rasmussen & K. Vollesen, 1982. Studies in the flora and vegetation of SW Ethiopia. - Opera Bot. 63: 1 - 70.

Later forest studies were published in the book:

Friis, I. 1992. Forests and forest trees of northeast tropical Africa - their natural habitats and distribution patterns in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. - Kew Bulletin, Additional Series, No. 15 (pp. i-iv & 1-396). Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

 

Other works with relevance to the Flora of Ethiopia include:

• Hulton, P., Hepper, F.N. & Friis, I. 1991. Luigi Balugani's drawings of African plants - From the collection made by James Bruce of Kinnaird on his travels to discover the source of the Nile 1763-1773. - Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, U.S.A., and A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Holland. (140 pp. text, plates with 330 illustrations).

• Friis, I., 1983. Phytogeography of the tropical North-East African mountains (Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia). - Bothalia 14: 525 - 532.

• Friis, I. & K. Vollesen, 1984. Additions to the Flora of Ethiopia. - Willdenowia 14: 355 - 371.

• Friis, I. 1986. The forest vegetation of Ethiopia. - Symbolae Bot. Uppsal. 26: 31 - 47.

• Friis, I. 1986. Ethiopia in regional phytogeography. - Symbolae Bot. Uppsal. 26: 68 - 85.

• Friis, I., M.G. Gilbert & K. Vollesen, 1987. Additions to the flora of Ethiopia, 2. - Willdenowia 16: 531 - 564.
  
  

 

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The Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea Symposium in
Copenhagen (1999) and the Proceedings from this meeting

In August, 1999, a symposium entitled Flora of the Horn of Africa and its relation to adjacent Floras - 3rd Symposium on the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea was held at the Carlsberg Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark.

A volume of Proceedings from that symposium has recently been published. It is entitled Biodiversity Research in the Horn of Africa Region - Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea at the Carlsberg Academy, Copenhagen, August 25-27, 1999, and has been edited by Ib Friis and Olof Ryding.

The volume contains 26 papers from the Symposium on a wide range of subject matters:

• Taxonomic case studies on Callitrichaceae, Portulacaceae, Asteraceae and Pedaliaceae and a review of the orchid flora.

• Historical reviews analyse the progress of the Flora project and the study of the plants of Ethiopia and Eritrea since the 18th Century.

• New contributions to the flora of Southern Yemen emphasise the relationship between the floras of both sides of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

• Analyses of data from the hitherto published volumes of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea point out centres of diversity and endemism of the region.

• The phytogeography of recently treated families, e.g. Cyperaceae, Commelinaceae, lilioid geophytes ("Liliiflorae"), and the genus Aloë (Aloaceae).

• Analyses of diversity and endemism in the birds of the region show interesting parallels with patterns found in plants.

• A study of Ethiopian homegardens points out the importance of these for conservation of traditionally grown species and cultivars; there are close relations between the cultivated flora and the indigenous species, especially in the forest region of southwestern Ethiopia.

• A detailed study of the relationship between cultivated and wild enset (Ensete ventricosa; Musaceae), an important food plant in southern Ethiopia.

• A review of plant materials used in traditional Ethiopian handicrafts shows a wide variety of species used, but many traditional materials are now being replaced with synthetic materials.

• Three papers deal with vegetation, one with degraded bushland of the Adwa region in northern Ethiopia, another with the vegetation of the high Semien Mountains in north-central Ethiopia, and one with the Sudanian dry forests, woodlands and wooded grasslands of the lowlands in western Ethiopia. A study deals with the seeds of grasses in the soil seed banks of the same area.

• A review paper points out that many features on the vegetation maps hitherto published for Ethiopia and Eritrea do not agree, particularly with regard to the vegetation on the Ethiopian Highlands

The volume covers 440 pages in quarto and has been published by Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab (The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters) as Biologiske Skrifter, Vol. 54. The publication is available from the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters:

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
H.C. Andersens Boulevard 35
DK-1553 København V

Tel: +45 - 33 43 53 00
Fax: +45 - 33 43 53 01

E-mail: kdvs@royalacademy.dk

The price is 500 DKK plus packing and postage outside the contries where the Danish VAT on books applies; within these countries the price is 625 DKK.

 

 

 

A symposium to mark the completion of the Ethiopian Flora Project was held in Uppsala in November 2009.

A symposium to mark the completion of the Ethiopian Flora Project and the progress of the creation of a botanical garden in Addis Abeba was held in Addis Abeba in November 2010.

Proceedings from both these two symposia are in the process of being published.

 

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The editorial board and editors

The editorial board of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea is currently:

• Dr. Tewolde Barhan G/Egziabher, Addis Ababa.

• Prof. Sebsebe Demissew, Addis Ababa.

• Prof. Olov Hedberg (died 2007) , Uppsala.

• Dr. Mesfin Tadesse, p.t. Ohio State University.

• Dr. Ensermu Kelbessa, Addis Ababa.

• Prof. Ib Friis, Copenhagen.

• Dr. Inga Hedberg, Uppsala.

• Ms. Sue Edwards, Addis Ababa.

 

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Where is the Flora available ... ?

The main suppliers for published parts of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea in Europe is found below:

The Flora is available from the Ethiopian National Herbarium, Addis Ababa, P.O. Box 3434, Addis Ababa.

The Flora is available from international bookshops, for example Koeltz Scientific Books, Germany, the Natural History Book Shop. UK, and Balogh Scientific Books, Illinois, USA.

 

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The publication and contents of the Flora

The FLORA OF ETHIOPIA and ERITREA was originally planned to consist of 8 volumes, but two volumes have been produced in two parts (vol. 2 and Vol. 4). The published parts cover more than 4000 species and infraspecific taxa. All volumes are in large 4to (A4) and with sturdy paper binding. The volumes are illuistrated with many line-drawings, either original or reproduced from floras of the neighboring countries. The series editors since the start of the project have been Dr. Inga Hedberg (Uppsala) and Ms. Sue Edwards (Addis Abeba). There is an international group of authors and a team responsible for the editing of each volume. The following is a conspectus of the publication of the Flora:

Volume 1. Lycopodiaceae to Pinaceae - Appendix - Additions and amendments to Vols 2-7. ISBN: 91-971285-7-0. By several authors. Editors Inga Hedberg, Ib Friis and Eva Pearson. Addis Ababa and Uppsala. Pp. I-XIII, 1-305. Published 2009.
The volume includes accounts of 36 families of ferns and fern allies, with approximately 200 species and infraspecific taxa, and 5 families of Gymnosperms with 17 species, including cultivated taxa. - This volume, one of the two last ones to be published, also include an Appendix of ca. 70 pages with additions, including newly discovered species, and correction to all the previously published volumes.

Volume 2, Part 1. Magnoliaceae to Flacourtiaceae. ISBN: 91-971285-2-X. By several authors. Editors Sue Edwards, Mesfin Tadesse, Sebsebe Demissew and Inga Hedberg. Addis Ababa and Uppsala. Pp. I-LXIII, 1-532. Published 2000 [2001].
The volume includes 61 families and 691 species and infraspecific taxa of Dicotyledons.

Volume 2, Part 2. Canellaceae to Euphorbiaceae. ISBN 91-971285-1-1. By several authors. Editors Sue Edwards, Mesfin Tadesse and Inga Hedberg. Addis Ababa and Uppsala. Pp. I-XIX, 1-456. Published 1995 [1996].
The volume includes 26 families and approximately 700 species and infraspecific taxa of Dicotyledons.

Volume 3. Pittosporaceae to Araliaceae. ISBN 91-971285-4-6. By several authors. Editors Inga Hedberg and Sue Edwards. Addis Abeba, Asmara and Uppsala. Pp. I-LXXI, 1-659. Published 1989 [1990].
This volume, the first one to be printed, was published before the peace settlement which made Eritrea independent from Ethiopia, and the title of the volume is therefore "Flora of Ethiopia." The volume includes 51 families and approximately 1100 species of Dicotyledons.

Volume 4, Part 1. Apiaceae to Dipsacaceae. ISBN 91-971285-5-4. By several authors. Editors Inga Hedberg, Sue Edwards and Sileshi Nemomissa. Pp. I-LIV, 1-352. Published 2003.
The volume includes 13 families and approximately 600 species of Dicotyledons.

Volume 4, Part 2. Asteraceae (Compositae). ISBN 91-971285-9-7. By one author (Mesfin Tadesse). Editors Inga Hedberg, Ib Fruiis and Sue Edwards. Pp. [I-XII], 1-408. Published 2004.
The volume includes only the Dicotyledon family Asteraceae (Composiae), with 440 species.

Volume 5. Gentianaceae to Lamiaceae. ISBN 91-971285-6-2. By several authors. Editors Inga Hedberg, Ensermu Kelbessa, Sue Edwards, Sebsebe Demissew and Eva Pearson. Addis Ababa and Uppsala. Pp. I-LIV, 1-690. Published 2006.
This volume includes 28 families and approximately 1100 species of Dicotyledons.

Volume 6. Hydrocharitaceae to Arecaceae. ISBN 91-971285-4-6. Pp. I-XXVIII, 1-586. By several authors. Editors Sue Edwards, Sebsebe Demissew and Inga Hedberg. Addis Ababa and Uppsala. Published 1997.
This volume includes 48 families and over 700 species of Monocotyledons, with the exception of grasses.

Volume 7. Poaceae (Gramineae). ISBN 91-971285-3-8. By one author (Sylvia Phillips). Editors Inga Hedberg and Sue Edwards. Addis Ababa and Uppsala. Pp. I-XX, 1-420. Published 1995 [1996].
This volume includes only the grass family which in the Flora area is represented by over 500 species.

Volume 8. General part and index to Vols 1-7. ISBN 91-971285-8-9. By several authors. Editors Inga Hedberg, Ib Friis and Eva Pearson. Addis Ababa and Uppsala. Pp. I-XII, 1-331. Published 2009.

This volume includes an overview of the Flora Project, a historical review of the scientific study of the flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea up to the beginning of the Flora project, an overview of the natural vegetation of the area covered by the Flora and of the regional floristic richness and degree of endemism in the Flora area, an index of the useful plants in the Flora, a review of the collectors of botanical specimens from the Flora area cited in the volumes of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea, a list of all contributors to the Flora, and a cumulative index to all volumes.

 

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The geographical distribution of the contributors to the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea:

Contry	Number of persons	Number of families contributed
Austria	3	3
Belgium	2	2
Canada	1	1
Denmark	3	39
Egypt	1	1
England	26 (incl. 2 from Scotland)	103
Eritrea	1	1
Ethiopia	9	79
Germany	7	7
Italy	2	3
Kenya	1	2
Netherlands	6	6
Norway	4	22
South Afrika	3	20
Sweden	8	24
Swizerland	2	2
USA	3	3

 

 

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The geography of the flora area

The flora area consists of a large mountain dome, deeply dissected by the Rift Valley system and by large rivers. The floristic regions used in the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea are based on the old administrative regions from the time before the division into two independent countries. The borders of the old administrative regions follow the major rivers as far as this has been possible. Eritrea and the former regions of Tigray, Wollo and Shewa have been divided into upland and lowland parts at the 1000 m contour in order to take into account the large phytogeographical difference between the montane and lowland floras. The lowlands of the former Ethiopian regions og Tigray, Wollo and Shewa are for the use of the Flora united into the region of AF (Afar).

 

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Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea - sample pages

Two sample pages with illustration and text from the latest volume, Vol. 2, Part 1. Magnoliaceae to Flacourtiaceae:

Below: The first page of the account of the family Violaceae by M.G. Gilbert.

 

Below: An illustration from the account of the family Capparidaceae by L. E. Kers from Vol. 2(1).

 

 

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Associated projects

Ib Friis, Sebsebe Demissew, Paulo van Breugel: Atlas of the Potential Vegetation of Ethiopia:

 

The vegetation atlas was prepared in 2008-2010, using GIS and other modern computer methods as well as field experience. It is published in 4to on 307 pages, with numerous vegetation photographs and an atlas of 28 map plates of the potential natural vegetation.

Foto: Ib Friis on the Sanetti Plateau, Bale Mountains, S.E. Ethiopia, 1979. The plant to the right is Echinops longisetus A. Rich. (Asteraceae) - an Afromontane endemic only found in the Ethiopian highlands.

The atlas is available for 400 DKK (plus postage) from the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters:

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters

H.C. Andersens Boulevard 35
DK-1553 København V

Tel: +45 - 33 43 53 00
Fax: +45 - 33 43 53 01

E-mail: kdvs@royalacademy.dk