Rising from the grassy highlands of south central Madagascar is an imposing massif of quartzite known as the Saronara mountains. These have yielded this latest aloe discovery of Swiss explorers W. Röösli & R. Hoffmann (KuaS 57(4):93-96, 2006). Aloe saronarae forms solitary, urn-shaped rosettes of erect leaves with gracefully recurved tips. The strap-shaped leaves are uniform green or red-blushed and are lined with evenly-spaced 2 mm teeth. The racemes are simple with slender, bell-shaped, red flowers. HBG 95221, from seed (R&H 2202) collected Dec. 1, 2002, at the type locality: ca. 12 km N of Ambatofinandrahana at 1650 m altitude in the Saronara mountains of Fianarantsoa Prov., Madagascar. $12.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 79 (2), March - April, 2007