Aloe myriacantha (Haw.) Schult. & Schult.f.

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 myriacantha (Haw.) Schult. & Schult.f.

Common names.

umakhuphulwane (Zulu).

Description.

Grass aloe, 0.2-0.3 m high. Acaulescent plants; rosettes solitary or sometimes suckering to form small groups. Leaves rosulate, erectly spreading, dull green, with few white spots towards base, with more copious somewhat tuberculate-subspinulescent spots on lower surface, narrowly linear, keeled, ± 25 cm long, 0.4-1.0 cm wide; margin with minute white teeth, up to 0.5-1 mm long and more crowded near base, smaller towards apex; exudate clear. Inflorescence 0.20-0.30 m high, erect, simple. Raceme capitate, 4.5-8.0 cm long, dense. Floral bracts 10-20 mm long, 5-12 mm wide. Pedicels 10-25 mm long. Flowers: perianth dull white to dull reddish-pink or purple, rarely greenish-white, 15-20 mm long, not or only slightly narrowed above ovary, basally substipitate, narrowing slightly towards mouth, cylindrical-trigonous, mouth distinctly bilabiate and upturned; outer segments free to base; stamens and style exserted 0-1 mm.

Flowering time.

January-May/April (southern Africa), May-June (Kenya and Uganda).

Habitat.

Grows amongst rocks and on rocky slopes in high-altitude montane grassland.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe myriacantha is distinguished from other grass aloes in KwaZulu-Natal with strongly-keeled leaves ( Aloe cooperi and Aloe sharoniae ) by the dull pinkish-red flowers (15-20 mm long) with a distinctly bilabiate upturned mouth. The inflorescence (0.20-0.30 m high) is equal to or slightly longer than the rosulate leaves ( ± 25 cm long). Leaves have a minutely toothed margin and have spots near the base, with the spots more copious and somewhat tuberculate-subspinulescent on the lower surface.

Conservation status.

Least Concern ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Distribution.

A typical Afromontane (sensu White 1983) floristic element, this species has probably the widest distribution range of any Aloe . It occurs from the Humansdorp area in the Eastern Cape, along the coast and widespread through KwaZulu-Natal, northwards along the escarpment to the Bosbokrand area in Mpumalanga, South Africa and also in western Eswatini. It is also found further north on the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, in Malawi and the Eastern Arc of mountains in Tanzania and Kenya, as well as Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda in southern Tropical Africa (Fig. 27 ).

Figures

Figure 27. Aloe myriacantha. Photo: N. R. Crouch.