Aloe boylei Baker, 1892

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

Aloe boylei Baker

Common names.

Broad-leaved grass aloe (English); breëblaargrasaalwyn (Afrikaans); incothobe, isiphukuthwane, isiphuthumane, isiputhujane (Zulu).

Description.

Grass aloe. Stem short, up to 0.2 m long, simple or with offshoots from ground level to form dense groups, erect, dried leaves not persistent. Leaves rosulate, deciduous, erect, deep green, upper surface channelled, usually without spots, sometimes lineate or with few scattered spots near base, lower surface copiously white-spotted near base, lanceolate-ensiform, 50-60 cm long, 6-9 cm wide at base; margin with soft, white teeth, 1-3 mm long, 2-5 mm apart near base; exudate clear. Inflorescence 0.4-0.6 m high, erect, simple. Raceme capitate, sub-corymbose or slightly conical, 10-12 cm long, dense. Floral bracts 20-23 mm long, 5-7 mm wide. Pedicels 40-45 mm long. Flowers: perianth salmon-pink, greenish tipped, 30-40 mm long, 11-12 mm across ovary, narrowing towards mouth, cylindrical, basally stipitate and narrowing into pedicel; outer segments almost free to base; stamens scarcely exserted or to 1-2 mm; style exserted 2-3 mm.

Flowering time.

December-January.

Habitat.

Eastern escarpment grassland, open rocky grassy hillsides.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe boylei can be distinguished from other grass aloes in KwaZulu-Natal with its unkeeled leaves that are wider than 3.5 cm ( Aloe ecklonis , Aloe hlangapies , Aloe kraussii and Aloe neilcrouchii ), by the large rosette of erect, rosulate leaves (50-60 × 6-9 cm), with the upper surface usually without spots and the lower surface copiously white-spotted near the base. It is further characterised by the unbranched inflorescences (0.4-0.6 m high) that have dense, capitate, subcorymbose or slightly conical racemes (10-12 cm long) with large (30-40 mm long), salmon-pink, tubular flowers.

Conservation status.

Least Concern (L. von Staden pers. comm.).

Distribution.

This species is widely distributed in eastern southern Africa, occurring in the Eastern Cape, western KwaZulu-Natal, eastern Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo in South Africa, as well as eastern Lesotho and western Eswatini (Fig. 8 ).

Notes.

Aloe boylei is considered by some as conspecific with Aloe ecklonis Salm-Dyck, together with Aloe kraussii Baker and Aloe hlangapies Groenewald ( Glen and Hardy 2000; Carter et al. 2011).

Figures

Figure 8. Aloe boylei. Photo: N. R. Crouch.