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Aloe marlothii [family ALOACEAE]

Date Updated: 19 August 2007

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 marlothii [family ALOACEAE]
Common names
A. supralaevis Haw. var. hanburyi Baker: 327 (1896a). Type: Hort. La Mortola, Hanbury s.n. (K!). A. ferox Mill. var. xanthostachys A.Berger: 310 (1908). Type: KwaZulu-Natal, Ladysmith, Marloth 4157 (B). A. marlothii A.Berger var. bicolor Reynolds: 34 (1936f); Reynolds: 482 (1950). Type: Mpumalanga, Barberton, Reynolds 1440 (PRE, nolo.!; BOL!). A. spectabilis Reynolds: 129 (1937e); Reynolds: 477 (1950); Jeppe: 38 (1969); Bornman & D.S.Hardy: 269 (1972); Palmer & Pitman: 389 (1972). Type: KwaZulu-Natal, Tugela Ferry, Reynolds 2033 (PRE, nolo.!; BOL!).
Information
Trees 2^(-10) m tall; stems simple. Leaves 40-50, arcuate-incurved to spreading or slight­ly recurved with age, 750-1500 x 75-250 mm, channelled to D-shaped in section, glaucous, usually with irregular prickles on both surfaces, these normally fewer on upper surface. Inflorescence of spreading to rarely erect, usu­ally secund, rarely cylindric racemes, with up to 30 branches; bracts ovate-acute, 4-9 x 2-5 mm, 3-5-nerved. Flowers yellow to red in bud, yel­low to orange at flowering, cylindric to ventri-cose, 22-35 mm long; outer segments connate for one third to half their length, inner segments adnate to outer in basal third; pedicles 3-5 mm long. Anthers exserted 8-20 mm. Ovary 5.0-9.0 x 1.5-5.0 mm, green; style exserted 6-20 mm. Fruit 19-21 x 10-12 mm, grey.
Habitat
This species and A. mawii are the only arborescent members of this section. In A. mar­lothii the inflorescence is a much-branched pan­icle with up to 30 racemes of orange to yellow flowers subtended by bracts 4-9 mm long. In A. mawii the inflorescence is a simple raceme of red to orange flowers subtended by minute bracts no more than 1 mm long. The leaves of A. excelsa are slightly shorter, narrower and more spreading than those of A. marlothii, tend to be slightly more purplish in colour when affected by cold, and have somewhat inrolled margins.
Use
104. Aloe marlothii A.Berger in Botan-ische Jahrbucher 38: 87 (1905b); A.Berger: 312 (1908); J.M.Wood: t. 579 (1912); N.E.Br.: t. 8484 (1913); Marloth: 102b (1915); Sim: 151 (1919); Pole Evans: t. 171 (1925d); Reynolds: 7 (1935); Reynolds: 479 (1950); Jeppe: 36 (1969); Bornman & D.S.Hardy: 271 (1972); Palmer & Pitman: 390 (1972); Compton: 100 (1976); B.-E. van Wyk & G.F.Sm.: 58 (1996). Type: Botswana, near Lobatse, Marloth 3325 (B, hole; PRE!, BOL! [= BOL24327]).
Range
Aloe marlothii characteristically grows on rocky hills on the highveld of the Northern Province, Mpumalanga and Gauteng, but may occur in a wide variety of habitats elsewhere. The vegetation and climate vary considerably across its range. Records of this species from Zimbabwe and Malawi (e.g. Jeppe 1969: 36) are probably based on misidentifications of A. excelsa (no. 115), which appears similar when not in flower or fruit.
Aloe marlothii [family ALOACEAE]
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