Aloe polyphyllaSchönland ex Pillans [family ASPHODELACEAE ]
Related name
Aloe polyphylla
Flora
Entry for Aloe polyphylla [family ALOACEAE]
Herbarium
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 polyphylla [family ALOACEAE]
Information
Plants stemless, 300-500 mm tall, rosettes 600-800 mm in diameter, solitary or in groups. Leaves ± 150 in a 5-ranked spiral, tetrahedral, 100-300 x 40-100 mm, emerald-green, marÂgins cartilaginous, with white teeth. Inflorescence 500-600 mm tall, 3-8-branched; peduncles ± 250 mm long above branching point; bracts ovate-acuminate, ± 29 x 7 mm, ± 5-nerved. Flowers pale salmon-pink to pale red, 37-55 mm long; pedicels 30-60 mm long. Anthers exserted up to 5 mm. Ovary ±9x3 mm; style exserted up to 5 mm. Fruit not seen. Flowering time September to October.
Habitat
The numerous leaves in a compressed 5-ranked spiral and the cartilaginous keel with, rarely, one or two prickles distinguish this species from all others in the genus. Species of Astroloba have 5-ranked leaves, but in that genus the leaves are much smaller and less numerous, and the axis is much longer relative to the size of the leaves.
Use
36. Aloe polyphylla Schonland ex Pillans in South African Gardening and Country Life 24: 267 (1934a); Reynolds: 11 (1934); Pole Evans: t. 571 (1935b); Reynolds: 194 (1950); Jeppe: 11 (1969); Bornman & D.S.Hardy: 69 (1972); Talukdar: 985 (1983); B.-E. van Wyk & G.F.Sm.: 154 (1996). Type: Lesotho, near Maseru, Reynolds 934 (= BOL 21370) (BOL!).
Range
Almost endemic to Lesotho (with one record on the Free State border), A. polyphylla occurs on steep, well-drained rocks high in the Maluti Mountains, in areas of very high rainfall and winter snow. Map 28.
