Aloe maculata Allioni (1773: 65 [13]) subsp. maculata

Smith, Gideon F., Figueiredo, Estrela, Verloove, Filip, Klopper, Ronell R. & Silva, Vasco, 2023, An annotated catalogue of Aloe and Aloiampelos (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae) naturalised and escaped in continental Portugal, Phytotaxa 629 (1), pp. 35-52 : 39-41

2. Aloe maculata Allioni (1773: 65 [13]) subsp. maculata ( Fig. 2 ).

Locally used synonyms:— Aloe saponaria (Aiton 1789: 467) Haworth (1804: 17) .

Common name(s):— Portuguese: áloe-manchado. English: soap aloe ( Grace et al. 2011).

Description:—Plants acaulescent or with stem up to 0.5 m tall; rosettes solitary or suckering to form dense groups. Leaves densely rosulate, erectly spreading to slightly recurved, up to 25–30 × 8–12 cm, ovate-lanceolate, with dried twisted apex, adaxial surface pale to darker green, with numerous, dull, H-shaped or irregularly shaped, white maculations in irregular broken, wavy, transverse bands, abaxial surface paler green, obscurely lineate and usually without maculations; margin horny, brown; marginal teeth ± 10 mm apart, 3–5 mm long, pungent, reddish brown; exudate clear. Inflorescence 0.4–1.0 m high, erect, branched. Racemes 10–12 cm long, capitate-corymbose, dense. Floral bracts ± 12–23 × 3–5 mm. Pedicels 35–45 mm long. Flowers: perianth 35–50 mm long, up to 10 mm across ovary, abruptly constricted above ovary to form sub-globose basal swelling, enlarging towards wide open mouth, slightly decurved, usually salmon pink to orange; outer segments free for 10–15 mm; stamens exserted 1–3 mm; style exserted to 5 mm. Capsule (2.0–)2.5–3.0 cm long, oblong.

Flowering time:—April–July.

Habitat:—On old (stone) walls and in abandoned gardens ( Almeida 2012: 209). A range of sites in natural vegetation, including on coastal cliffs and sand dunes.

First mention of the species as naturalised in Portugal:—1998 (fide Almeida & Freitas 2006: 119).

Localities recorded:— Almeida (2012: 209, as “ Aloe saponaria ”) recorded it as casual in BL (Alhadas) and Ag (Sagres). Güemes (2013: 314) recorded it for E (Serra d’El Rei), BAl, and Ag. Silva et al. (2015: 69–70, 75) recorded it as casual and escaped at Cascais, Oeiras, north of Lisbon. It is here recorded at the following further localities; São João do Estoril (E); Almograve, Porto Covo (BAl), Cabo de Sagres (Ag).

Country / region of origin:—Southern Africa. It occurs from the Cape Peninsula through the provinces of Western and Eastern Cape, into the eastern Free State, through KwaZulu-Natal to Mpumalanga, South Africa, as well as in Lesotho and Eswatini.

Secondary distribution range:— Aloe maculata is very sparingly naturalised in areas with a Mediterranean climate. It is reportedly known as such from the western Mediterranean area: France (Provence and Corsica; Tison & de Foucault 2014), Spain ( Guillot Ortiz et al. 2008, Aymerich & Sáez 2019), Gibraltar ( Lamb 1996), and Malta ( Mifsud 2022; erroneously as ‘ A. microstigma subsp. microstigma ’). In Italy, it is a mere casual ( Galasso et al. 2018). It is furthermore locally naturalised in the Canary Islands (unpublished records by FV) and in Algeria in North Africa ( Sakhraoui et al. 2023). It is also naturalised in parts of Australia ( Randall 2007, Weeds of Australia 2023) and New Zealand ( Schönberger et al. 2021). In some areas of its secondary range, A. maculata is considered to be an environmental weed.

Status in Portugal:—Naturalised. It was previously recorded in a list of “more or less naturalised” taxa ( Almeida & Freitas 2006: 118), and later recorded as casual ( Almeida 2012: 209) and as “Casual. Cultivated, escaped” ( Silva et al. 2015: 75).

References:— Almeida & Freitas (2006); Almeida (2012); Güemes (2013); Silva et al. (2015).

Notes:— Aloe maculata has been recorded as naturalised in the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain and Portugal ( Almeida & Freitas 2006: 119, Guillot Ortiz et al. 2008: 28–32, Almeida 2012: 209, Güemes 2013: 312). In places in Portugal the species has become naturalised through self-replacing populations and is now spreading without human aid. At some locations A. maculata has become invasive.

Aloe maculata is a distinctive species that can be easily identified based on the adaxial leaf surface that is spotted, often densely so, with whitish maculations ( Fig. 2A–C ) and its capitate inflorescences ( Fig. 2D ). Depending on the provenance of material of this species, flowering can take place at virtually any time of the year. Thus far only summer-flowering material of A. maculata has been observed in Portugal.

The only alooid material cultivated in Portugal with which A. maculata can be confused is A. × schimperi Todaro (1878: 70 , plate 16) [ A. maculata × A. striata Haworth (1804: 18) ] ( Fig. 3A–B ), of which the arguably better known name A. × schoenlandii Baker (1902: 430) , as ‘ Schönlandi ’, pro sp., is a synonym ( Figueiredo & Smith 2016: 14). However, the leaf margins of A. × schimperi are distinctly pinkish—a character inherited from A. striata —and the flowers lack the prominent basal swellings evident in the flowers of A. maculata .

Aloe × commutata Todaro (1876: 75, t. 18) ( Fig. 3C–D ) (see Figueiredo & Smith 2012), of which the parents are A. grandidentata Salm-Dyck (1822: 3 [species no. 2]) and A. maculata , has a similar, typically ‘maculate aloe’-like vegetative morphological appearance as A. maculata . However, A. × commutata has elongated racemes (not capitate ones) and clavate (not basally inflated) flowers, and the leaf margins are concolorous, unlike those of A. × schimperi that are pinkish. Thus far we have not observed A. × commutata in cultivation anywhere in continental Portugal, although it is popular as a garden subject in some parts of the world, for example in the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, in Superior, Arizona, U.S.A. (see Smith 2005) and in the Huntington Botanical Gardens, in San Marino, California, U.S.A. (see Smith 1997), but, interestingly, not in South Africa, from where its parents originate.

In A. maculata , one other subspecies, A. maculata subsp. ficksburgensis ( Reynolds 1937: 148) Gideon F.Sm. & Figueiredo in Smith et al. (2012b: 15), is recognised, which is only known from the eastern Free State, South Africa, and western Lesotho. This subspecies has not been observed in continental Portugal.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Aloe maculata in Portugal. A. Naturalised at Almograve along the Baixo Alentejo coast. Photograph taken on 29 December 2017. B. Naturalised at Porto Covo along the Alentejo Litoral coast.Photograph taken on 30 December 2017. C. Naturalised at Malveira da Serra, Almoinhas Velhas, in Cascais, near metropolitan Lisbon. Photograph taken on 28 September 2014. D. Close-up of an inflorescence that carries salmon-orange flowers. The racemes are distinctly capitate and flowers have prominent basal swellings. All photographs by Gideon F. Smith.

FIGURE 3. Two nothospecies with which Aloe maculata can be confused. A. Aloe ×schimperi [A. maculata × A. striata] cultivated in the Botanical Garden of the University of Porto, Porto. Note the distinctly pinkish leaf margins, a character inherited from A. striata. B. The flowers of A. ×schimperi lack the prominent basal swellings present in A. maculata. Both photographs A and B were taken on 22 December 2017. C. The rosettes of A. ×commutata [A. grandidentata × A. maculata] resemble those of A. maculata, but, as shown in D, itsinflorescences are elongated (not capitate) and the flowers of this nothospecies, too, lack basal swellings,as found in A.grandidentata. Both photographs C and D were taken in the Huntington Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, U.S.A., on 27 April 2011. All photographs by Gideon F. Smith.