ISI 2023-10. Aloe ‘Kerfuffle’ K. Zimmerman

Aloe ‘Kerfuffle’ is derived from trysts of the benign and the clandestine. First, Aloe ‘Brown Betty’, ISI 2013-11, with its normally brownish field, ornamented with a crumble of white spots and pinkish teeth, was crossed (in the midst of a blizzard?) with Aloe ‘Polar Ice’. The latter was never distributed but was a sibling of A. ‘Dragon’, ISI 2010-11, and A. ‘Princess Jack’, ISI 2011-20, with white teeth but on a field of blue-gray reminiscent of the luminous aquamarine color refracted in the shade of a glacier or ice cave. Clone 15 of the resulting hybrid swarm was then crossed with A. ‘Secret Agent’, a liaison which resulted in A. ‘Kerfuffle’. A kerfuffle (a fuss or commotion) seasonally ensues among some of the teeth, which appear to migrate in the night into clusters near the base of the leaves, set off amidst a tan to pinkish field, in contrast to the blue-gray field of the rest of the leaf. Meanwhile, the broad, marginal teeth spread like open hands, as if to say, ‘What’s all the fuss?’. Rooted plants of HBG 142360, $15.