In December, 2023, I came across this charming plant in a local nursery. It made a delightful hanging basket so I bought it for the Huntington and set about researching the name. It turns out that it was described in Aloe 40:2:2003 by our friend and colleague, Ernst van Jaarsveld. In his explorations 20 years earlier for cliff-dwelling succulents, he explored the Mbashe River of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. One of his finds, first spotted on the cliffs using binoculars, was this species with compact, pillow-like grayish leaves with red distal margins and comparatively large, pendent, red, bell-shaped flowers. A few pieces were dislodged with some well-tossed stones. These grew and flowered at Kirstenbosch in 2002. It is known only from the type locality, cliffs along the Mbashe River, Transkei, Eastern Cape, South Africa. HBG 143997, $10.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 97 (2), Summer 2025