Aloe vryheidensis Groenew.

Klopper, Ronell R., Crouch, Neil R., Smith, Gideon F. & van Wyk, Abraham E., 2020, A synoptic review of the aloes (Asphodelaceae, Alooideae) of KwaZulu-Natal, an ecologically diverse province in eastern South Africa, PhytoKeys 142, pp. 1-88 : 1

Aloe vryheidensis Groenew.

Common names.

Dolomite aloe, Vryheid aloe (English); bruinaalwyn (Afrikaans).

Description.

Acaulescent or arborescent plants or stem up to 2 m high, procumbent or shortly suberect, unbranched or sometimes branched at base; with persistent dried leaves; rosettes solitary or in small groups. Leaves densely rosulate, arcuate-erect to slightly spreading and recurved, glaucous green to dark green with bluish or reddish tinge, without spots, texture smooth, lanceolate-attenuate, 40-80 cm long, 9-13 cm wide at base; margin red, subcorneous, with pungent, deltoid, straight, reddish teeth, 2-3 mm long, 10-15 mm apart; exudate drying yellow. Inflorescences 0.6-1.5 m high, oblique to erect, simple. Raceme cylindrical, 30-40 cm long, 5-7 cm wide, erect, very dense. Floral bracts 8-15 mm long, 5-10 mm wide. Pedicels absent. Flowers: perianth greenish-yellow to reddish in bud, rose-coloured or greenish-yellow to yellowish when mature, 8-20 mm long, 4-5 mm across ovary, widening to wide open mouth, campanulate-cylindrical; outer segments free to base; stamens exserted 6-15 mm; style exserted 7-17 mm.

Flowering time.

July-August.

Habitat.

Usually on alkaline soils derived from shale or dolomite (on sandstone at Vryheid).

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe vryheidensis is one of only two aloes indigenous to KwaZulu-Natal that have sessile campanulate flowers with dark nectar in a simple inflorescence. It differs from Aloe spicata in having procumbent to shortly sub-erect stems (not erect) that are sometimes absent, arcuate-erect to slightly spreading leaves (not recurved) and an inflorescence with the peduncle oblique (not erect), then bent upwards directly below the erect raceme. The racemes of Aloe vryheidensis are narrow (5-7 cm wide), but slightly wider than those of Aloe spicata , with pinkish-brown flowers (not greenish-yellow). The ovary has red lines longitudinally down the 3 broad angles.

Conservation status.

Least Concern (L. von Staden pers. comm.).

Distribution.

Mountainous areas of northern KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, South Africa (Fig. 49 ).

Figures

Figure 49. Aloe vryheidensis. Photo: G. Nichols.