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 viridiflora [family ALOACEAE]
Information
Plants solitary, stemless, erect, 500-700 mm tall excluding inflorescence. Leaves 50-60, arcuate-incurved, 300-600 x 40-80 mm, brownish glaucous, faintly lined. Inflorescence 5-10-branched, 1.2-1.5 m tall; racemes very dense, capitate; bracts deltoid-acuminate, 12-15 x 4-7 mm, 5-9-nerved. Flowers green to lemon-yellow, 21-33 mm long; all segments free alÂmost to base; pedicels 10-20 mm long. Anthers exserted 5-10 mm. Ovary 5.0-9.0 x 2.0-2.5 mm, green; style exserted 5-12 mm. Fruit not seen. Flowering time August to September.
Habitat
Plants of this species are solitary and stem-less. The leaves are glaucous without spots but very faintly lined. The lower surface is convex, and the margins are armed with deltoid pungent pinkish brown teeth. The inflorescence is a many-branched panicle with dense capitate racemes, erect and up to ± 1.5 m tall. This species differs from all others in the genus except A. inconspicua (no. 7) in having green flowers. In that species all vegetative characÂters, as well as the inflorescence and flower shape, are markedly different from those of this species.
Aloe viridiflora grows near Windhoek, a few kilometres east of nearby populations of A. hereroensis (no. 76). A. viridiflora, unlike A. hereroensis, usually occurs on granite. Map 51.
