Umbelliferae for the Flora of Somalia
Introduction
The Flora of Somalia is edited by Mats
Thulin and published by the Royal
Botanic Gardens Kew. It aims to cover all vascular plants known to
occur in Somalia, volumes 1, 2 and 4 of the four volume series have been
published to date. the Somali flora is very rich in comparison with other
arid areas in Africa. Several hundred species are endemic and they consitute
a unique genetic resource, and in many cases they are of great potential
value for arid countries in general. Of particular interest are the relict
occurences of many apparently ancient arid elements, often with their closest
relatives not in surrounding regions but rather in areas such as
Namibia, Pakistan or even Mexico and southern U.S.A.
Language
English.
Author
Mats
Thulin, Uppsala, SWEDEN
Scheduling
Published.
Publications arising from this work
Thulin, M. (1999). 104. Apiaceae (Umbelliferae).
In Thulin, M. (ed.), Flora of Somalia 2: 268-287. Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew: London.
Thulin, M. (1991). Another arborescent umbellifer: a new species of Steganotaenia from north-east tropical Africa. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 107: 163-167.
The new species Steganotaenia commiphoroides is described from central and southern Somalia, and south-eastren Ethiopia. It differs from the likewise arborescent S. araliacea, widespread in tropical Africa, in, for example, its 3-foliate or occasionally simple leaves, leaf teeth with shorter aristae, shorter pedicels, and fruits with a pair of distinctly winged dorsal ridges.