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Four new species of Aloe (Aloaceae) from Ethiopia, with notes on the ethics of describing new taxa from foreign countries

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Summary

Subsequent to the treatment of the Aloaceae, with 38 species of Aloe, in the Flora of Ethiopia (Sebsebe Demissew & Gilbert 1997), four more species, Aloe bertemariae Sebsebe & Dioli (2000), A. friisii Sebsebe & M. G. Gilbert (2000), A. clarkei L. E. Newton (2002) and A. elkerriana Dioli & T. A. McCoy (2007) have been described from that country. Here four additional new species are described: Aloe benishangulana Sebsebe & Tesfaye from near Assosa, Benishangul-Gumuz in Welega floristic region; A. ghibensis Sebsebe & Friis from the Ghibe Gorge, Kefa floristic region; A. weloensis Sebsebe from near Dessie in Welo floristic region and A. welmelensis Sebsebe & Nordal along the Welmel River in Bale floristic region. The phytogeographical positions of the new species are assessed by comparison with the previously known species. Complications with the deposition of type material of A. clarkei and A. elkerriana is used to raise various issues regarding the ethics of describing new taxa from foreign countries.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge support for field studies on the genus Aloe in the Flora Ethiopia from the Norwegian University Cooperation (NUFU) and the Carlsberg Foundation. The Director of ETH is thanked for making material available for study. The Keeper and Staff of the Herbarium, RBG, Kew, are thanked for providing work space and support during the herbarium study. We would like to thank Melanie Wilmot-Dear for help with the Latin diagnoses.

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Demissew, S., Friis, I., Awas, T. et al. Four new species of Aloe (Aloaceae) from Ethiopia, with notes on the ethics of describing new taxa from foreign countries. Kew Bull 66, 111–121 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-011-9263-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-011-9263-2

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