Aloe pluridens Haw.

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 pluridens Haw.

Common names.

French aloe, many-toothed tree-aloe (English); fransaalwyn (Afrikaans).

Description.

Tree or shrub, up to 3 m high. Stem ± 2-3 m high, can reach up to 5 m, simple or branched at ground level or from middle or above, erect, with persistent dried leaves in upper half. Leaves densely rosulate, erectly spreading and gracefully recurved, sometimes falcately deflexed, pale to yellowish-green, obscurely lineate, lanceolate-falcate, 60-70 cm long, 5-6 cm wide at base; margin narrow, white, cartilaginous, with deltoid, incurved, white or very pale pink teeth, 2-3 mm long, 5-10 mm apart; exudate clear. Inflorescence 0.8-1.0 m high, erect, up to 4-branched from below middle. Racemes conical, 25-30 cm long, dense. Floral bracts ± 20 mm long, 10-12 mm wide. Pedicels 30-35 mm long. Flowers: perianth salmon pink to orange to dull scarlet or yellow, 40-45 mm long, 6-7 mm across ovary, slightly constricted above ovary, slightly widening towards mouth, cylindrical-trigonous; outer segments free to base; stamens exserted 2-4 mm; style exserted to 5 mm.

Flowering time.

May-June.

Habitat.

Succulent thicket vegetation on hillside slopes within a coastal strip and, in the north of its range, along the ecotone of coastal forest pockets.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe pluridens differs from the other tall often single-stemmed aloes in KwaZulu-Natal ( Aloe candelabrum , Aloe marlothii , Aloe rupestris , Aloe spectabilis and Aloe thraskii ) with branched inflorescences, by having narrow (60-70 × 5-6 cm), erectly spreading and gracefully recurved, pale green to yellowish-green, obscurely lineate leaves with small crowded pinkish-white marginal teeth and exudate with a distinct sharp odour. The inflorescence is up to 4-branched with erect, rather lax, conical racemes of 25-30 cm long. Flowers are salmon-pink to orange to dull scarlet or yellow and 40-45 mm long. Note though that the flowers of A. pluridens never take on the bright scarlet colour of some forms of A. arborescens .

Conservation status.

Least Concern ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Distribution.

This species has a disjunct distribution range. It occurs from the Humansdorp area to the Kei River Mouth in the Eastern Cape, as well as in the Durban area in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (Fig. 32 ; Walker et al. 2019a).

Figures

Figure 32. Aloe pluridens. Photo: G. Nichols.