NE Aloe mudenensis Reynolds

Common names.

Muden aloe (English); kleinaalwyn (Afrikaans); icena (Zulu).

Description.

Caulescent plants, 0.25-0.5 m tall; rosettes simple or sometimes in small groups. Stem sometimes absent, usually up to 0.8 m, unbranched, erect or sometimes decumbent, without persistent dried leaves. Leaves densely rosulate, spreading, bluish-green, paler on lower surface, with numerous irregularly scattered white oblong spots on both surfaces, spots sometimes in irregular transverse bands, sometimes lineate, lower surface sometimes without spots and lineate, ovate-lanceolate, attenuate, 25-30 cm long, 8-9 cm wide; margin horny, with pungent, deltoid, brown, usually straight teeth, up to 7 mm long, 10-20 mm apart; exudate clear, drying reddish-purple. Inflorescence up to 1 m high, erect, 4- to 8-branched from about middle or below. Racemes subcapitate, broadly cylindrical, slightly conical, ± 12 cm long, 8-9 cm wide, rather dense. Floral bracts 12-15 cm, 2-4 mm wide. Pedicels 20-25 cm long. Flowers: perianth salmon-orange, sometimes red, 25-35 mm long, 8 mm across ovary, abruptly constricted above ovary to form subglobose basal swelling, enlarging towards wide-open mouth, slightly decurved; outer segments free for 5-9 mm; stamens exserted to 4 mm; style exserted to 5 mm.

Flowering time.

June-July.

Habitat.

Valley bushveld and thicket on sandy loam. Lower areas of warm valleys.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe mudenensis can be distinguished from other maculate aloes in KwaZulu-Natal ( Aloe dewetii, Aloe maculata subsp. maculata, Aloe parvibracteata, Aloe prinslooi, Aloe pruinosa, Aloe suffulta, Aloe umfoloziensis, Aloe vanrooyenii and Aloe viridiana) by the short, usually erect stem, without persistent dried leaves. Rosettes are usually solitary or in small groups. Leaves are spreading, 25-30 × 8-9 cm and spotted on both surfaces, with the paler lower surface sometimes without spots and lineate. Marginal teeth are up to 7 mm long. The 4- to 8-branched inflorescence (up to 1 m high) has rather dense, cylindrical, yet terminally rounded racemes ( ± 12 × 8-9 cm) with spreading buds and flowers. Pedicels are 20-25 cm long. Flowers are salmon-orange, sometimes red, 25-35 mm long and with a subglobose basal swelling (8 mm diameter).

Conservation status.

Near-threatened. Threats include silviculture, agriculture (mainly sugarcane) and urban expansion, as well as overgrazing (L. von Staden pers. comm.).

Distribution.

KwaZulu-Natal midlands, on the Mpumalanga border with northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and in Eswatini (Fig. 26).