Aloe linearifolia A.Berger, 1922

Klopper, Ronell R., Crouch, Neil R., Smith, Gideon F. & van Wyk, Abraham E., 2020, A synoptic review of the aloes (Asphodelaceae, Alooideae) of KwaZulu-Natal, an ecologically diverse province in eastern South Africa, PhytoKeys 142, pp. 1-88 : 1

NE Aloe linearifolia A.Berger

Common names.

Dwarf yellow grass aloe (English); inkuphuyana (Zulu).

Description.

Grass aloe, up to ± 0.3 m high. Acaulescent plants or stem very short, usually simple, occasionally 1- or 2-branched at ground level, erect. Leaves usually distichous, rarely rosulate, erect to erectly spreading, deciduous, green, with copious white and brown spots near base on lower surface, linear, ± 25 cm long, 0.5-1.0 cm wide, basal portion dilating and becoming amplexicaul; margin usually minutely dentate near base, teeth up to 0.5 mm, up to 4 mm apart, without teeth towards tip; exudate clear. Inflorescence 0.20-0.35 m high, erect, simple. Racemes capitate, ± 2 cm long, dense. Floral bracts 10-14 mm long, 4-7 mm wide. Pedicels 12-15 mm long. Flowers: perianth greenish-yellow to yellow, ± 12 mm long, ± 4.5 mm across ovary, base tapering into pedicel, not narrowed above ovary, mouth slightly upturned, cylindrical-trigonous; outer segments free almost to base; stamens exserted 0-2 mm; style exserted 1-2 mm.

Flowering time.

January-February (March).

Habitat.

Damp places in open sunny situations in stony grassveld or on grassy slopes, often on rocky outcrops.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe linearifolia can be distinguished from other grass aloes in KwaZulu-Natal with unkeeled leaves that are usually narrower than 3.5 cm and that lack a bulb-like underground swelling ( Aloe dominella , Aloe micracantha , Aloe minima , Aloe nicholsii , Aloe parviflora and Aloe saundersiae ), by the distichous, erect to erectly spreading, long and narrow, green leaves ( ± 25 × 0.5-1.0 cm), with copious white and brown spots near the base on the lower surface. It is also characterised by the unbranched inflorescences (0.20-0.35 m high) with dense, capitate racemes of short, yellow flowers ( ± 12 mm long) that are carried on stout pedicels (12-15 mm long). Rosettes are usually solitary or occasionally in small groups.

Conservation status.

Least Concern. Threats include habitat transformation owing to commercial silvicultural and agricultural practices and urban expansion, as well as overgrazing and poor fire management ( Raimondo et al. 2009, L. von Staden pers. comm.).

Distribution.

Mainly found in the grasslands of southern and central KwaZulu-Natal and the northern Eastern Cape, South Africa, with a few scattered collections from northern KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga of South Africa; also just entering north-western Eswatini (Fig. 20 ).

Figures

Figure 20. Aloe linearifolia. Photo: D. Styles.