Rosa abyssinica (Bekele-Tesemma, 2007)
| Rosa abyssinica (Bekele-Tesemma, 2007) |
Rosa abyssinica Rosaceae Indigenous
Common names
- English: Abyssinian rose
- Agewgna: Mawordi, Gmtsi
- Amargna: Kega
- Guragigna: Engocha
- Haderigna: Enqoto, Gora
- Oromugna: Enqoto, Goro
- Somaligna: Dayero
- Wolaytgna: Tsege‑reda‑chisha
Ecology
Found only in Arabia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and the Sudan, this rose is common in Ethiopia in upland dry evergreen forests and margins or clearings of forests as well as in bushland and dry grasslands. It is also found near houses and on river banks in Dry, Moist and Wet Weyna Dega and Dega agroclimatic zones of Tigray, Gondar, Welo, Gojam, Shewa, Harerge, Arsi and Bale, 1,700–3,300 m.
Uses
Firewood, food (fruit), medicine (flowers, roots, fruit), live fence.
Description
A prickly evergreen shrub, creeper or climber, or a small tree that grows to 7 m. Few prickles on the stem, slightly curved from a wide base and all similar. Variable in many features.
- LEAVES: Compound, leathery, 3 pairs of leaflets plus one at the tip, each narrowly ovate 1–6 cm, tip sharp, edge toothed, on a short stalk which is winged by the leafy stipules.
- FLOWERS: Fragrant white‑pale yellow, usually 3–20 in dense heads, each stalked, the sepals long, narrow and hairy, soon fall, 5 petals about 2 cm long, tip rounded to square, many stamens.
- FRUIT: Green at first, ripen to orange‑red, about 2 cm long, fleshy and edible, seeds within.
Propagation
Seedlings, cuttings.
Seed
Fruits ripen in March for seed collection.
- Treatment: No treatment needed.
- Storage: Stores well.
Management
Smaller plants can also be divided and used for multiplication as can suckers. Bending young plants and thinning to few per stack will ease production and harvesting of fruits. There are less seedy and more fleshy varieties that can be used for improvement.
Remarks
Children collect and eat the fruits.
