Aloe suffulta Reynolds

Thiede, Joachim, Campbell-Barker, Theo Peter, Hargreaves, Bruce J., Smith, Gideon F. & Figueiredo, Estrela, 2020, Notes on three aloes of Malawi: Aloe cam's, A. lateritia, and A. suffulta (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), Bradleya 38, pp. 247-253 : 252

Aloe suffulta Reynolds

Aloe suffulta is a short-stemmed maculate Aloe unique in the genus by its long inflorescences climbing up to 2.5m in supporting bushes. It is documented with specimens from northeastern South Africa (northern KwaZulu-Natal), western and southern Mozambique, and southeastern Zimbabwe where it occurs in shady conditions under bushes on river banks, commonly in alluvial sandy soils subject to flooding after heavy rains, and with high summer temperatures of up to 45°C ( Reynolds, 1937; Reynolds, 1950: 343–345; Jeppe, 1969: 103; Plowes, 1972: 39, ill. p. 56; Archibald, 1974: 98, ill. p. 96; West, 1974: 63, ill. plates 14d & 15b; Percy-Lancaster, 1976; Kimberley, 1992: plates 14d & 15b; Glen & Hardy, 2000: 89, 91; Smith & Crouch, 2001: 19; Carter, 2001: 48; Court, 2010: 246, 250; Carter et al., 2011: 509; Van Wyk & Smith, 2014: 268–269).

The first and as yet sole record of Aloe suffulta from Malawi was made by Campbell-Barker in the 1970s in southern Malawi, northwest of Nsanje “within 25 miles of the Boma”, growing sparsely in sandy soil on a high river bank of a seasonal stream. He prepared a habitat sketch ( Figure 8 ) and brought two plants into cultivation, neither of which thrived, but documented one of them with a habit sketch ( Figure 9 ; published earlier in Smith & Crouch, 2001: 21 and in Lane, 2004: 45). These two drawings ( Figures 8 & 9 ) are the sole permanent record of Campbell-Barker’s find.

The Aloe suffulta record was published much later ( Campbell-Barker, 1998: 9) and adopted by Msekandiana & Mlangeni (2002: 34), Lane (2004: 44–45), and Klopper et al. (2012: 89–91), but omitted from the specimen-based Flora zambesiaca aloe treatment of Carter (2001) due to the lack of preserved material. Lane (2004: 44) gives the locality as “about 20km north of Nsanje”, but it is actually about 20–25km northwest of Nsanje in what is now the Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve (Nsanje District, Southern Province; Figure 1 : 3), and plants should be sought on river banks along the Mwabvi River.

The type of Aloe suffulta is a collection of G.W. Reynolds from Mozambique, with the number 2457. The holotype is at Herb. PRE, consisting of two sheets ( PRE0683983-1 and PRE0683983-2 ). Several isotypes exist elsewhere .

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution of three Aloe species rare in Malawi: 1) A. canis (yellow dots, a = Senga Hills; b = inland from Domira Bay; c = Ntchisi Hills; Central Region); 2) A. lateritia var. lateritia (blue dot = near Ipenza, two records; Northern Region); and 3) A. suffulta (red dot = Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve; Southern Region). Placements of the dots are partly approximations. The map insert shows the position of Malawi (red) in Africa (map: Wikimedia Commons 2019; insert map: mapsof.net 2015).

Figure 8. Aloe suffulta in habitat in what is now the Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve (Malawi), growing on a river bank (rather likely of the Mwabvi River) in the dense undergrowth of bushes with the long, dry inflorescences literally ‘woven’ through the supporting bushes and emerging through the top, ca. 1970. Drawing: Pastor Theo Peter Campbell-Barker.

Figure 9. Aloe suffulta: a young plant collected in what is now the Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve (Malawi). A living specimen was brought to Blantyre in ca. 1970 (published earlier in Smith & Crouch, 2001: 21 and in Lane, 2004: 45). Drawing: Pastor Theo Peter Campbell-Barker.