Linné on line 
Plants and Animals To discover new species New species in the Flora of Somalia
New species in the Flora of Somalia
 In Somalia the threatened palm Livistonia carinensis is found. |
Somalia is situated
in North East Africa. In this country the plants have
been unknown to science for a long time.
Today scientists at Uppsala University are writing the
first real flora for Somalia. They assume that there
are about 3000 plant species in the country. About 400
of them are new to science and will be described and
recorded for the first time.
Linnaeus sent his pupils to all corners of the world, but none of them travelled to Somalia. It would last a hundred years after Linnaeus’ death until the first plant was collected from Somalia and the first attempt to a list of the plants was not compiled until the 20th century. Somalia is a dry country with mainly semi desert vegetation. Nevertheless, there is a rich flora with many interesting plants. The best known are the frankincense trees from which sap has been collected and used as incense for thousands of years. The scientists who are writing the flora have been able to reveal which tree species give incense and in what parts of the country they grow. |
Until recently mostly foreign scientists have explored the plant world of Somalia. Now several Somali botanists are being trained with help from Sweden and other countries. It has been difficult to work and travel in Somalia because of the ongoing civil war. Despite this situation the flora work has continued.