Rosa abyssinica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rosa
Species:
R. abyssinica
Binomial name
Rosa abyssinica
Synonyms

Rosa abyssinica var. microphylla Crép.

Rosa abyssinica[1] is the only rose native to Africa. Europeans first learned of the rose in the writings of 19th-century Scottish botanist Robert Brown.[2] Rosa abyssinica is included in the genus Rosa, and the family Rosaceae.[3] No subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life.[3]

Description

Rosa abyssinica is a prickly evergreen shrub, creeping or often climbing, capable of forming a small tree up to 23 feet (7.0 meters) tall. It has a few prickles on the stem, slightly curved from a wide base and all similar. It has many variable features. The leaves are compound and leathery. It has 3 pairs leaflets plus one at the tip, each narrowly ovate from .5 to 2 inches (1.3 to 5.1 centimetres) tip sharp, edge toothed, on a short stalk which is winged by the leafy stipules. Flowers are of fragrant white-pale yellow, and are usually 3 to 20 in dense heads, each stalked, the sepals long, narrow and hairy, soon fall, and have 5 petals about 2 cm long, tip rounded to square, with many stamens. The fruits are green at first, but later ripen to orange-red. They are about 1 inch (2.5 cm) long, fleshy and edible with seed within.[4] It has been described as a "big prickly 'dog rose.’”[5]

Geographical distribution

Rosa abyssinica is mainly found in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen and to a lesser extent Saudi Arabia,[6] Somalia and the Sudan.[7] It is common in the Ethiopian highlands and the mountains of Yemen across the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, a distribution paralleled by Primula verticillata and a few other plants.[5] It commonly forms thickets in upland dry evergreen forests, margins, clearings, upland bushland, rocky places, and riparian formations.

Uses

Food (fruit and flower), medicinal (fruit), garden, ornamental.[8]

Rosa abyssinica has sometimes been cultivated as a "living fence” surrounding home gardens in rural villages.[9]

The fruit (rose hips) of Rosa abyssinica is eaten, mostly by children, and is believed to alleviate fatigue or tension.[10] Birds eat the fruit as do baboons (baboons also consume the flowers). Medicinally, the fruit are eaten in as a remedy for worms (hook, tape and round). The crushed leaves have been used in remedies for hepatitis.[11]

Common and Local Names

Ethiopian rose, Wild Ethiopian rose, African rose, Abyssinian rose (English), Kega (Ethiopian - Amharic), Ward (Yemeni - Arabic), Qaqawwii (Oromo), Dayero (Somali)[12]

References

  1. ↑ R.Br., 1814 In: Salt, Voy. Abyss. App. 64
  2. ↑ Brown, Robert (1866). The Miscellaneous Botanical Works of Robert Brown, Volume 1. London England: Robert Hardwicke.
  3. 1 2 Roskov Y.; Kunze T.; Orrell T.; Abucay L.; Paglinawan L.; Culham A.; Bailly N.; Kirk P.; Bourgoin T.; Baillargeon G.; Decock W.; De Wever A. (2014). Didžiulis V. (ed.). "Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2014 Annual Checklist". Species 2000: Reading, UK.
  4. ↑ Hedberg, I. & Edwards, S (2014). "Category 3: 'Wild Food Plants Attracting Additional Consumer Categories". Ethiopia: Famine Food Field Guide.
  5. 1 2 Grimshaw, John (2010-05-28). "John Grimshaw's Garden Diary: Three interesting roses". John Grimshaw's Garden Diary. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  6. ↑ "Flowers of Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabian Flora". Splendid Arabia. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  7. ↑ "Rosa abyssinica in Global Plants on JSTOR". plants.jstor.org. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  8. ↑ "Useful Trees, Rosa abyssinica" (PDF). Old World Agroforestry.
  9. ↑ J.W. Watson and P.B. Eyzaguirre, editors (17–19 July 2001). "Home gardens and in situ conservation of plant genetic resources in farming systems" (PDF). Biodiversity International. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ↑ Chekole, Getnet; Asfaw, Zemede; Kelbessa, Ensermu (2015-01-07). "Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in the environs of Tara-gedam and Amba remnant forests of Libo Kemkem District, northwest Ethiopia". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 11: 4. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-11-4. ISSN 1746-4269. PMC 4417315. PMID 25572933.
  11. ↑ Eland, F.L.S., Sue C. (1991–2013). "Plant Lives, Rosa abyssinica" (PDF). Plant Biographies.
  12. ↑ "Category3".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.