flora of the Ethiopian highlands - I

(with editions/corrections added July 12, 2007)

olive tree, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata. Here's some interesting information about forest ecology and management related to the wild African olive.

Olive tree, draped with a moss that the locals use to tell which direction the wind is blowing. The leaves of the olive are burned instead when the traditional incense for the coffee ceremony is too expensive.

? young tree heather, Erica arborea or ?? Erica trimera

Erica arborea, draped with moss

?? Myrica salicifolia

fluffy seedheads of clematis in the background

gorgeous grass, a ?festuca

Drimia simensis

Doesn't this look like it might be a rain lily, maybe Cooperiana pedunculata? Can anyone help?

Solanum incanum, which the locals use as a soap. It is also used alone or with other plants as a remedy for parasites in livestock.

? acacia

strawflower, Helichrysum meyeri johannis

Rosa abyssinica, the endemic Ethiopian rose, is a beautiful shrub that towers up to 2m high.

Hagenia abyssinica, a tree used in traditional medicine as a vermifuge, is known locally as the kosso tree.

Compounds around churches, where trees traditionally are not cut for fuel, are a repository of many beautiful and useful trees in Ethiopia, including the Hagenia abyssinica.