Aloe pratensis Baker, 1880

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 pratensis Baker

Common names.

Meadow aloe (English); bergaalwyn (Afrikaans).

Description.

Acaulescent plants; rosettes solitary or branching from the base to form small groups, 15-25 cm diameter. Leaves densely rosulate, erectly spreading to slightly incurved, glaucous, lineate, deltoid-lanceolate, 10-17 cm long, 4-6 cm wide, lower surface with few scattered red-brown spines from white tuberculate bases, keel armed with few brown spines, 2-3 mm long; margin not distinctly coloured, with pungent, deltoid, reddish-brown teeth, ± 5 mm long, ± 10 mm apart; exudate clear, drying deep orange. Inflorescence 0.5-0.6 m high, erect, simple; peduncle almost entirely covered with large, thin, imbricate sterile bracts. Racemes cylindrical, ± 20 cm long, dense; buds completely hidden by large bracts. Floral bracts up to 40 mm long, 15-18 mm wide. Pedicels 25-40 mm long. Flowers: perianth rose-red, 35-40 mm long, ± 5 mm across ovary, slightly enlarged towards mouth, basally stipitate, cylindrical; outer segments free to base; stamens exserted 0-1 mm; style exserted 1-2 mm.

Flowering time.

August-December.

Habitat.

In exposed positions amongst rocks in sloping montane grassland in some of the coldest parts of the southern Drakensberg.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe pratensis can easily be distinguished from other KwaZulu-Natal aloes by being an acaulescent plant with smallish rosettes ( ± 20 cm diameter) that occurs solitary or in small groups. Leaves (10-17 × 4-6 cm) have pungent reddish-brown marginal teeth ( ± 5 mm long) and spines on the lower surface that arise from white tuberculate bases. The inflorescence (0.5-0.6 m high) is simple with the peduncle covered in large, imbricate bracts. Racemes are cylindrical and dense and elongates significantly as flowering progresses, although the length of the peduncle stays roughly constant. Flower buds are hidden by large floral bracts. Flowers are cylindrical and rose-red (35-40 mm long).

Conservation status.

Least Concern ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Distribution.

It occurs in the central and northern Eastern Cape and along the Great Escarpment and in south-western KwaZulu-Natal along the Drakensberg Mountain Range to Royal Natal National Park, South Africa, as well as Lesotho (Fig. 33 ).

Figures

Figure 33. Aloe pratensis. Photo: G. F. Smith.