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Rosa abyssinica
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] DescriptionRosa 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 distributionRosa 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. UsesFood (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 NamesEthiopian rose, Wild Ethiopian rose, African rose, Abyssinian rose (English), Kega (Ethiopian - Amharic), Ward (Yemeni - Arabic), Qaqawwii (Oromo), Dayero (Somali)[12] References
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