Aloe cooperi Baker, 1874

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 cooperi Baker

Common names.

Cooper’s aloe (English); cooperse-aalwyn (Afrikaans); isipukutwane, isiputumane, inqimindolo (Zulu).

Description.

Grass aloe. Acaulescent plants or stem short, up to 0.15 m, erect, usually simple; rosettes solitary or sometimes with offshoots at ground level to form small groups; dried leaves not persistent. Leaves distichous, sometimes spirally twisted to rosulate in old plants, erect, deciduous, green, usually without spots on upper surface, with copious white spots at base on lower surface, obscurely lineate, narrowly long-deltoid, distinctly keeled, V-shaped in cross section, 40-80 cm long, 2.5-6.0 cm wide at base; margin with firm, white teeth, 1-2 mm long, 1-2 mm apart at mid-leaf; exudate clear. Inflorescences 0.4-1.0 m high, erect, simple. Raceme broadly conical, 10-20 cm long, dense. Floral bracts 20-35 mm long, 10 mm wide. Pedicels 30-60 mm long. Flowers: perianth salmon-pink near base, green tipped, 25-40 mm long, ± 12 mm across ovary, narrowing towards mouth, roundly trigonous, basally stipitate and narrowing into pedicel; outer segments free almost to base; stamens not exserted or exserted 1-2 mm; style exserted to 5 mm.

Flowering time.

December-February.

Habitat.

Regularly occurs in marshy places. Grows also in well-drained habitats, often amongst rocks on grassy hillsides.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe cooperi is distinguished from other grass aloes in KwaZulu-Natal with strongly keeled leaves ( Aloe myriacantha and Aloe sharoniae ) by the inflorescence (0.4-1.0 m high) that can sometimes be shorter than the distichous leaves (40-80 cm long). Leaves have copious white spots near the base on the lower surface and a toothed margin. Flowers are salmon-pink near the base, green tipped and 25-40 mm long, with the mouth not bilabiate or upturned. Floral bracts are flat and not clasping the pedicel (as in Aloe sharoniae ).

Conservation status.

Least Concern, but declining. Threats include habitat transformation owing to commercial silvicultural and agricultural practices, as well as overgrazing and alien invasives ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Distribution.

Occurs mainly in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, just entering the eastern Free State, the southeast of Limpopo and the northern part of the Eastern Cape in South Africa, also widespread in Eswatini and just entering Lesotho and Mozambique (Fig. 11 ).

Notes.

In recent years, Aloe cooperi has become very popular in South Africa in large-scale landscaping, for example of industrial sites. Unlike several other grass and slender aloes, that do not thrive beyond their natural geographical distribution ranges, most forms of Aloe cooperi are relatively easy in cultivation.

Figures

Figure 11. Aloe cooperi. Photo: N. R. Crouch.