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10 plants worth knowing

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is above all the Ethiopian Highlands – the “roof of Africa”, where a mild climate prevails at 2,000–3,000 m, and above them, in the Simien and Bale Mountains, stretch Afroalpine heathlands with giant lobelias. The moist montane forests of the south-west are the home of wild coffee, while the eastern lowlands and the Danakil Depression are among the hottest and driest places on Earth. The country’s isolation meant that many crops, such as teff and enset, were domesticated right here.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Arabica coffee 1

    shrub · National symbol and pride of Ethiopia – the birthplace of coffee

    Arabica coffee

    Coffea arabica

    Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee – wild coffee plants still grow in the forests of Kaffa, and the buna ceremony is a ritual of hospitality.
  2. Teff 2

    crop

    Teff

    Eragrostis tef

    The world’s smallest cereal grain, used to make injera – the sour, spongy flatbread without which no Ethiopian meal is complete.
  3. Adey abeba 3

    flower · Flower of the Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash) and the Meskel festival

    Adey abeba

    Bidens macroptera

    In September golden adey abeba flowers flood the highlands, heralding the end of the rainy season and the Ethiopian New Year.
  4. Enset 4

    crop

    Enset

    Ensete ventricosum

    The “tree against hunger” – around 20 million Ethiopians get their food from the trunk and rhizome of this false banana.
  5. Giant lobelia 5

    perennial

    Giant lobelia

    Lobelia rhynchopetalum

    A giant lobelia whose flower spike towers 6–10 metres above the Afroalpine heathlands of the Simien and Bale Mountains.
  6. Khat 6

    crop

    Khat

    Catha edulis

    Ethiopia is the world’s largest producer of khat – the fresh, stimulating leaves are chewed from Harar to Addis Ababa.
  7. Sycamore fig 7

    tree · The odaa tree on the flag of the Oromia region

    Sycamore fig

    Ficus sycomorus

    For centuries the Oromo gathered beneath the spreading odaa for the assemblies of the gadaa system – today the tree appears on the flag of Oromia.
  8. African juniper 8

    tree

    African juniper

    Juniperus procera

    The world’s tallest juniper once formed forests across the Ethiopian Highlands – today it survives mainly around old churches.
  9. Hagenia 9

    tree

    Hagenia

    Hagenia abyssinica

    Hagenia, with its drooping russet flower clusters, grows high in Ethiopia’s mountains – for centuries its flowers were a cure for tapeworm.
  10. Gesho 10

    shrub

    Gesho

    Rhamnus prinoides

    Gesho leaves and twigs give bitterness to tej honey wine and tella beer – playing the role in Ethiopia that hops play in Europe.