Aloe kniphofioides Baker, 1890

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 kniphofioides Baker

Common names.

Grass aloe (English); grasaalwyn (Afrikaans).

Description.

Grass aloe. Acaulescent plants; rosettes solitary, leaf bases forming bulb-like underground swelling. Leaves rosulate, erect, green, without spots, narrowly linear, 20-40 cm long, 0.6-0.7 cm wide, dilating below ground-level to 2.0-3.0 cm wide; margin entire or minutely dentate, with small, white teeth, ± 0.7 mm long, 1-2 mm apart, more crowded lower down; exudate clear. Inflorescence up to 0.30-0.55 m high, erect, simple. Raceme cylindrical, 10-15 cm long, very lax, few-flowered. Floral bracts 15-22 mm long, 4-7 mm wide. Pedicels 12-18 mm long. Flowers: perianth pale pink to scarlet, green-tipped, 30-50 mm long, base rounded, 6-7 mm across ovary, not narrowed above ovary, cylindrical, slightly curved; outer segments free for 6-8 mm; stamens and style not or very shortly exserted to 1 mm.

Flowering time.

October-November.

Habitat.

Grassland in reasonably high rainfall areas. Rather heavy, stone-free soils.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe kniphofioides can be distinguished from other grass aloes in KwaZulu-Natal where the leaf bases form a subterranean bulb-like swelling ( Aloe bergeriana , Aloe inconspicua and Aloe modesta ), by the long, narrow, bright red, unscented flowers (30-50 mm long) that are pendent in a very lax, unbranched, cylindrical raceme (10-15 cm long), with pedicels 12-18 mm long. The narrow leaves (20-40 × 0.6-0.7 cm) are usually without spots and with or without minute white marginal teeth.

Conservation status.

Near-threatened. Threats include habitat transformation and degradation owing to mining, commercial afforestation and alien invasives, as well as a loss of pollinators and poor fire management leading to poor recruitment ( Raimondo et al. 2009, L. von Staden pers. comm.).

Distribution.

Widely but sparsely distributed. This species has a disjunct distribution: it occurs in the Kokstad area on the border of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape province; and then along the Great Escarpment in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and just entering the eastern Free State, South Africa, as well as in Eswatini (Fig. 18 ).

Figures

Figure 18. Aloe kniphofioides. Photo: J. E. Burrows.