Region of camels and now Region of Flowers

[KUUSH]

As many as 10,000 new species of plants, animals and insects are discovered each year, but these are usually isolated specimens or small clusters hidden away in forests or other remote areas. Often they are small and easily overlooked.

But on recent visits to Ethiopia, Swedish botanist Mats Thulin discovered a new species of tree that covers more than 3,100 square miles, an area about the size of the island of Crete.


Botanist David J. Mabberley of Britain's Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew described the new tree in a report Friday in the journal Science, noting that it has most likely been overlooked by botanists because few have visited the region where Ethiopia's Ogaden National Liberation Front is fighting for self-rule.

The area is also difficult to get to, he said, and the trees can be seen from drivable roads in only a few places.

The newly identified tree, Acacia fumosa, grows about 18 to 20 feet tall, with a canopy that spreads 24 to 30 feet in diameter. It sprouts pink flowers during the dry season, when it is leafless. It differs from closely related species in the color of its flowers and in its gray, smooth bark, among other things.


The number of the trees in the region "must be in the millions," Mabberley wrote.

People living in the sparsely populated region are familiar with the tree, he noted, but have no uses for it other than as firewood. He speculated, however, that gum from the tree might be used in foods and glues.

The discovery was a result of the Flora of Somalia project, established to look for new plants in Ethiopia's Somali National Regional State. Researchers with the project have discovered and described more than 400 new species of flowering plants in Ethiopia.

[Looyaan_Junior]

Kuush,

There has been exagerated news about this acacia tree recently discovered in the Ogaden region, I am not quite sure about what is so special about this tree, I have never seen a sub species tree found in some remote part of the world got such a world wide coverage.

I know the other two acacia specias (Acacia seyal and Senegal) produces Arabic gum which has many uses in both beverages and medicine applications. Unfortunately those gums are not explioted fully in many parts of the region with the exception of Afdheer and Liban zones.

[dawwa9]

The wild date palm is my favorite tree of Somalia, I like how it branches

[Advo]

[dawwa9]

Native to Somalia

[Advo]

The first pic is misleading, it's not somalia but the yemen owned Island of Socotra....

[dawwa9]

^What you posted is an ''Dracaena'' indeed native to Socotro only. But the first pic of my second post was a Baobab tree which is found in Somalia.

[DisplacedDiraac]

[KUUSH]

^What you posted is an ''Dracaena'' indeed native to Socotro only. But the first pic of my second post was a Baobab tree which is found in Somalia.

WOW, THAT IS REALLY CUTE TREE. SOMALIA MUST BE BLESSED WITH TREES, I AM SURE THEY ARE MILLION OTHER UNDISCOVER TREE IN SOMALIA SPECIALLY BARAARE DISTRICT AREA. A HUGE FOREST WITH OF DIFFERENT PLANT

lOOYAAN

BY ANY CHANCE DO YOU HAV A PICTURE BADMADOW MADOW AREA OR BADHAADHE.