One of the choicest dwarf South African aloes, this superficially resembles a small, plump A. brevifolia. The flowers are much showier, a richer orange and large for the size of the plant. They are arranged in dense racemes, several of which may be produced from a single mature rosette, though these tend to clump compared with the typical variety. These features recommend it as a parent for hybridization to produce small landscape or rockery subjects. Work is under way toward this end, but in the meantime we have produced true seedlings, HBG 90211, through controlled pollination of plants from several sources. The variety is known from only a couple of populations in the N Cape Prov. of S Africa on white quartzite hills SE of Alexander Bay. $8.50.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 76 (2), March - April, 2004