E Aloe nicholsii Gideon F.Sm. & N.R.Crouch

Common names.

Shiny aloe (English); blinkaalwyn (Afrikaans).

Description.

Grass aloe of ± 0.30-0.36 m tall. Stem short, ± 0.06-0.14 m high, erect, sometimes unbranched, usually suckering to form clumps; without persistent dried leaves. Leaves distichous becoming semi-rosulate, flaccidly spreading, mid-green to light yellowish-green, occasionally with a few scattered white spots towards base, spots more common on lower surface, texture smooth, narrowly linear, tapering towards apex, canaliculate, 20-46 cm long, 2.0-3.5 cm wide; margin coarse, faintly ivory-coloured, mostly without teeth or sometimes with tiny, harmless, triangular, ivory-coloured to greenish-white teeth, less than 0.5 mm long, 5-10 mm apart; exudate drying translucent. Inflorescence 0.30-0.46 m tall, erect, simple. Raceme capitate, 3.0-3.5 cm long, 5-6 cm wide, dense. Floral bracts 10-26 mm long. Pedicels 25-30 mm long. Flowers: perianth metallic salmon-pink above, greenish below, purplish-brown tipped, lightly pruinose, 13-16 mm long, 5 mm across middle, enlarging towards slightly open, distinctly upturned mouth, tubular cymbiform; outer segments free for most of their length; stamens not exserted; style exserted.

Flowering time.

January-March.

Habitat.

Open rocky grassland.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe nicholsii can be distinguished from other grass aloes in KwaZulu-Natal with unkeeled leaves that are usually narrower than 3.5 cm and that lack a bulb-like underground swelling ( Aloe dominella, Aloe linearifolia, Aloe micracantha, Aloe minima, Aloe parviflora and Aloe saundersiae), by the unbranched inflorescences (0.30-0.46 m high) with dense, capitate racemes and pedicels 25-30 mm long. The small flowers (13-16 mm long) are pruinose, greenish below and a metallic salmon-pink above, with a distinctly upturned mouth. The distichous to semi-rosulate leaves (20-46 × 2.0-3.5 cm) are flaccidly spreading and occasionally with a few scattered white spots towards the base, more commonly on the lower surface. Rosettes are usually in dense groups (Crouch et al. 2011).

Conservation status.

Critically Endangered. Threats include habitat degradation due to overgrazing, urban expansion and commercial afforestation (Von Staden 2013).

Distribution.

Known from a small area near Babanango in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, South Africa (Fig. 29).