South African National Biodiversity Institute, Compton Herbarium, Cape Town (SAM)
Collection
Flora of Southern Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of South Africa, (2003) Author: Dr J.P. Roux
Names
Aloe linearifolia [family ALOACEAE]
Information
Stemless grass aloe 200-300 mm tall, soliÂtary; main stem sometimes once- or twice-branched. Leaves 6-8, usually distichous, rarely spirally twisted, lorate, 160-360(-600) x 4-8(-10) mm, margins entire or minutely denÂticulate. Inflorescence a dense capitate raceme; peduncle 160-350(-600) mm long, with many sterile bracts; bracts ovate-acuminate, 10-15 x 4-7 mm, 5-7-nerved. Flowers greenish yellow to yellow, 11-15 mm long, mouth upturned; all segments free; pedicels 12-20 mm long. Anthers not or shortly exserted. Ovary 3.5-4.0 x 1.5-2.0 mm, green; style exserted to 2 mm. Fruit ± 18 x 9 mm, buff. Flowering time January to February.
Habitat
The racemes of this species are similar to those of A. myriacantha (no. 3) and A. minima (no. 4), while the flowers are similar in shape, structure and colour to those of A. ecklonis (no. 19). However, the flowers in this species are much smaller than those of A. ecklonis. The leaves of this species are more conspicuously very narrowly rectangular (linear) than most.
Found in Mpumalanga, Swaziland, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. Plants of this species may be commoner than they seem. As they are slightly smaller than the grasses among which they grow and the flowers are an inconÂspicuous shade of yellow, they are very difficult to see in nature. Map 11.
