Aloe chabaudii Schoenland var. chabaudii

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 chabaudii Schoenland var. chabaudii

Common names.

Chabaud’s aloe (English); grysaalwyn (Afrikaans); inhlaba, inkalane (Zulu).

Description.

Acaulescent plants or stem very short, procumbent; rosettes up to 0.5 m high, suckering or dividing to form dense groups. Leaves densely rosulate, erect or spreading, dull grey-green to glaucous green, sometimes with reddish tinge, obscurely lineate, usually without spots, sometimes with few small confluent, H-shaped, scattered spots, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 30-60 cm long, 6-15 cm wide at base; margin cartilaginous, narrow, greyish, with small, deltoid, pale to brownish teeth, 1-3 mm long, 5-10 mm apart; exudate clear pale yellow. Inflorescence 0.5-1.5 m high, erect or oblique, 6- to 12-branched, lower branches rebranching. Racemes broadly cylindrical, slightly acuminate, occasionally sub-capitate, 5-15 cm long, rather lax. Floral bracts 3-6 mm long, 1.5-4.0 mm wide. Pedicels up to 20-25 mm long, spreading. Flowers: perianth pale brick-red or bright coral-pink, sometimes orange to yellow, paler at mouth, 35-40 mm long, 7-9 mm across ovary, narrowed above ovary, widening towards mouth, cylindrical-trigonous, decurved; outer segments free for ± 8 mm; stamens exserted 1-2 mm; style exserted to 2 mm.

Flowering time.

April-August.

Habitat.

Usually on bare rock on granite domes, at foot of granite whalebacks and outcrops or in shallow soil pockets and shady wooded slopes. Frost-sensitive.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe chabaudii var. chabaudii can be distinguished from other virtually acaulescent, non-maculate aloes in KwaZulu-Natal ( Aristaloe aristata , Aloe gerstneri , Aloe pratensis , Aloe reitzii var. vernalis , Aloe suprafoliata and Aloe vanbalenii ) by its suckering habit that results in the establishment of dense groups of rosettes. It is further characterised by its erect to spreading, greyish-green to glaucous green leaves (30-60 × 6-15 cm) with rather small closely-spaced marginal teeth. The inflorescence is erect to oblique, up to 1.5 m high and 6- to 12-branched with the lower branches spreading and rebranching. Floral bracts are short (3-6 mm) and pedicels oblique to almost horizontal (up to 25 mm). Flowers are mostly reddish, 35-40 mm long and narrowed above the ovary.

Conservation status.

Least Concern ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Distribution.

Centre of distribution in Zimbabwe, extending north to Zambia and Malawi and south-western Tanzania, west into eastern Botswana, the Caprivi Strip of north-eastern Namibia, east to Mozambique and south to the Limpopo, Mpumalanga and northern KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa, as well as Eswatini (Fig. 10 ).

Notes.

One other variety is recognised in A. chabaudii , namely A. chabaudii var. mlanjeana Christian that is confined to the Mulanje Massif and hills in the Thyolo and Mulanje District, Malawi.

Figures

Figure 10. Aloe chabaudii var. chabaudii. Photo: M. Kimberley.