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Re: [SANS] eil river or eil pass

Dear Tom,

Eil (also spelled Eyl) is neither. It is a small town on the east coast of
Somalia and a "hot spot" for rare and unusual succulents. In 1969, growing
along a small airstrip in Eil, John Lavranos rediscovered the long lost
Euphorbia turbiniformis Chiovenda. Eil is also the type locality for
Pseudolithos caput-viperae Lavranos, Euphorbia eilensis Carter and
Sanseviera eilensis Chahinian. All are charming but difficult to grow dwarf
succulents.

As Lavranos (1994) describes it: "Eyl is a village of small houses about 2
1/2 miles away from the ocean in latitude 7 degrees N and some 3 miles from
the ocean", "At Eyl the average rainfall is about 100 mm (4 inches) per
year, which is unusually low for Sansevierias. Sansevierias are normally
found in areas whose annual rainfall is in the order of at least 200 mm (8
inches). The air temperature is always high, never dropping below
approximately 22 degrees C (70 degrees F) and reaching not more than 35
degrees C (95 degrees F), since Eyl is so close to the ocean. The soil
temperature, in turn, never drops under 24 degrees - 27 degrees C (75
degrees - 80 degrees F). The entire area is extremely windy.", "Eyl is in
the canyon of Tug Nugaal. From there the track rises about 400 ft onto a
flat limestone plateau. The Sansevieria plants we found grow below the low
cliff that mark the edge of the plateau and they favor whatever shade they
can procure in order to survive."

Chahinian (1995) cites the type of Sansevieria eilensis to be from Somalia,
N3, Eyl Pass, 4 km NNW of Eyl, c. 120 m, 3 April 1973, Lavranos 10179.

References

Lavranos, J.J. (1971) NOTES ON THE SUCCULENT FLORA OF NORTH EAST AFRICA AND
SOUTHERN ARABIA. PART IV: EUPHORBIA TURBINIFORMIS CHIOVENDA; AN INTERESTING
REDISCOVERY. Cact. & Succ. Journ. Amer. 43 (6): 236-238, 4 figs.

Lavranos, J.J. (1974) NOTES ON THE SUCCULENT FLORA OF NORTH EAST AFRICA AND
SOUTHERN ARABIA. PART II. (Pseudolithos caput-viperae Lavranos) Cact. &
Succ. Journ. Amer. 46 (3): 125-130, 9 figs.

Lavranos, J.J. (1994) THE DISCOVERY OF SANESVIERIA SP. 'EYL'. The
Sansevieria Journal 3 (2): 51-52, 1 fig.

Chahinian, B.J. (1995) SANESVIERIA EILENSIS A NEW SPECIES FROM SOMALIA. The
Sansevieria Journal 4 (1): 9-11, 2 figs.

Cereusly Steve

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
•Subject: eil river or eil pass
•From: Thomas & Clover Schultz <TCSchultz@WEBTV.NET>
•Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 11:39:16 -0500

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey all and Hermine,

So, is that eil river/eil pass a sport of eiliensis or is it its own
species or is it a hybrid?  Are there any eiliensis hybrids out there?

Have a good one,
Tom
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