page_title: Wildlife of Djibouti
section_title: Flora
hierarchical_section_title: Wildlife of Djibouti / Flora
caption_attribution_description: Catha edulis
context_page_description: The Wildlife of Djibouti, consisting of flora and fauna, is in a harsh landscape with forest accounting for less than one percent of the total area of the country. The flora and fauna species are most found in the northern part of the country in the ecosystem of the Day Forest National Park at an average altitude 1,500 metres, including the massif Goda, with a peak of 1,783 metres. It covers an area of 3.5 square kilometres of Juniperus procera forest, with many of the trees rising to 20 metres height. This forest area is the main habitat of critically endangered and endemic Djibouti spurfowl, and another recently noted vertebrate, Platyceps afarensis. The area also contains many species of woody and herbaceous plants, including boxwood and olive trees, which account for sixty percent of the total identified species in the country.
  Wildlife flora and fauna are also found in the country's wetland ecosystem which includes two large lakes, Lake Assal and Lake Abbe, and many salt pans which are flooded occasionally from the wadis and the coastal tidal wetlands. The coastal belt of Djibouti also has a diversity of marine life or aquatic ecosystem, including coral reefs.
context_section_description: Most of the land in Djibouti is desert. However, wildlife vegetation is made up of semi-desert grassland, shrub land and succulent scrub. Coastal area consists of desert and mangrove. Dry evergreen forests are in the mountains of Mount Goda in the Day National Park near Tadjoura and Mabla Mountains. On Mount Goda, near Tadjoura, there are rare giant juniper trees, acacias, and wild olive trees. However, most of the vegetation is typical of the desert and semi-desert, consisting of thorn scrubs and palm trees. 534 species of plants are recorded in the Goda and Mabla Mountains including a number of endemic species. Two species of particular interest are the Nubian tree (Dracaena ombet) and the Bankouale palm (Livistona carinensis) in the National Park. Other species reported as unique to Djibouti are: Aloe djiboutiensis, Aloe ericahenriettae, Euphorbia godana, Euphorbia amicorum, Phagnalon lavranosii, Cynoglossopsis somaliensis, Caralluma mireillae, Polygala goudahensis and Matthiola puntensis.
  Vegetation recorded on the periphery of lakes, pans, wadi valley beds and coastal foothills are: Cenchrus ciliaris, Aeloropus lagopoides, Aeloropus persica, Cenchrus ciliaris, Calatropis procera, Cyperus cconglomeratus, Eleusine compressa, Halopeplis perfoliata, Heliotropum pterocarpum, Panicum turgidum, Salsola forskalii, Sporobolus spicatus, Suaeda monoica, Trianthema crystalline and Urochondra setulosa. Acacia tortilis and cadaba glandulosa are also found on some of the wadis.
  Flora recorded in the Coastal Desert Ecoregion are: Herbaceous/grassy steppe species of Aerva javanica, Cymbopogon schoenanthus, Panicum turgidum, Lasiurus scindicus, Acacia tortilis, Acacia asak steppe, Rhigozum somalense, Caesalpinia erianthera shrubland. The coastal vegetation in this region consists of halophytic vegetation with mangroves species of Rhizophora mucronata, Ceriops tagal and Avicennia marina. The ecoregion also has xeric grasslands and shrublands in the inland areas of the coast.
  The medicinal plant khat (Catha edulis) occurs in Djibouti where it is chewed by 90% of the men; its effect is a state of euphoria.
caption: The medicinal plant khat Catha edulis, endemic to Djibouti, whose effect is a state of euphoria.
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