Aloe hereroensis
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Image 1
Habit
29 Jun 2006
Image 2
Flowers
29 Jun 2006
Image 3
Close-up of leaves
16 Jun 2008
Image 4
Habit
28 Apr 2007
| Family: | Asphodelaceae |
| Full name: | Aloe hereroensis Engl. |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Hererolandaalwyn, Sandaalwyn |
| English common name(s): | Hereroland aloe, Herero aloe |
| Synonym(s): | - |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Caudex short. Leaves densely rosulate, lanceolate-deltoid, 10 in. long, 2 in. broad at the base, narrowed gradually to the apex; marginal teeth not crowded, spreading, deltoid, 0.125 in. long. Peduncle forked, with inflorescence 3 ft. long; branches densely flowered at the apex; pedicels 1 in. or more long; bracts ovate-lanceolate, 0.333– 0.5 in. long. Perianth cylindrical, 1 in. long, not constricted above the ovary; segments as long as the tube. Stamens just exserted. (from JSTOR website / Flora of Tropical Africa) Perennial herb, solitary, or suckering to form small groups of plants, acaulescent or older plants with a very short stem. Leaves in a dense rosette, erect and curving inwards, 30–40 cm long, 6–9 cm wide toward the base, ovate-lanceolate, greyish-green or often bronzed, obscurely lineate and usually without spots on the upper surface, with few to many whitish spots scattered or arranged in transverse bands on the lower surface; margins cartilaginous with pungent deltoid red-brown teeth 3–4 mm long, 8–12 mm apart. Inflorescences 1–3, erect to 1 m high; peduncle up to 12-branched, the lower branches rebranched; branches widely spreading, subtended by ovate-lanceolate scarious bracts to 2 cm long, with several widely spaced bracts below each raceme. Racemes 6–8 x 8–10 cm, corymbose-capitate, very densely flowered; bracts 20–25 x 3–4 mm, lanceolate-acuminate, scarious; pedicels 30–50 mm long. Perianth scarlet, 25–33 mm long, 8–9 mm in diameter across the ovary, narrowing slightly toward the mouth, cylindric-trigonous; outer segments free to halfway, tips slightly spreading. Stamens and stigma exserted 2–5 mm. Capsule c. 24 x 9 mm, ovoid, yellowish-grey. Seeds c. 7 x 3.5 mm, black with broad white wings. (from JSTOR website / Flora Zambesiaca) Plants solitary, stemless or short-stemmed, erect, 300-500 mm tall excluding inflorescence. Leaves ±30, arcuate-ascending, 250-325 x 35-85 mm, shallowly channelled to D-shaped in section, grey-green, dark blue-green or reddish brown, obscurely lined, often with many H-shaped whitish spots. Inflorescence a panicle with 20 or more branches, ±1 m tall; racemes dense, capitate; bracts narrowly lanceolate-acuminate, 15-30 x 5-6 mm, 3-7-nerved. Flowers usually scarlet to deep red, almost magenta, rarely yellow, 25-35 mm long; pedicels 18-50 mm long. Anthers exserted 2-5 mm. Ovary 7-8 x 2-3 mm, green; style exserted 5-10 mm. Fruit ±18x7 mm, buff. Seeds ±2.0 x 1.25 x 0.75 mm, almost black, wings prominent, buff. Flowering time June to September. (from JSTOR website / Flora of Southern Africa) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie |
| Content last updated: | 05 Jan 2012 |
