Aloe bergeriana (Dinter) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning

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 bergeriana (Dinter) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning

Syn.

Chortolirion bergeriana Dinter.

Common names.

Kleinaalwyn (Afrikaans).

Description.

Herbaceous acaulescent perennial. Bulb usually solitary, ovoid-oblong, formed by pale rosy membraneous leaves-bases. Leaves rosulate, slightly succulent, grass-like, flaccid to erect, greyish-green, once twisted, 15-29 cm long, 1-3(- 5) mm wide in middle of leaf, leaf base hairy and unspotted; margins soft, white, decurved teeth. Inflorescence 20-35 cm high, simple, lower sterile parts bracteate, produced when leaves are fully developed. Racemes narrowly cylindrical, lax. Floral bracts 7 mm long, 4 mm wide. Pedicels 3-4 mm long. Flowers: perianth pinkish-white with darker keel, 14-17 mm long, very slightly narrowed above ovary, cylindrical and straight to wide open bilabiate mouth, base obtuse; outer segments free almost to base; stamens and style hardly or not exserted.

Flowering time.

January-March.

Habitat.

Rocky sandstone and quartzitic outcrops.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe bergeriana can be distinguished from other grass aloes in KwaZulu-Natal where the leaf bases form a subterranean bulb-like swelling ( Aloe inconspicua , Aloe kniphofioides and Aloe modesta ) by the very narrow leaves (15-29 × 0.1-0.3 cm) that are twisted once and hairy near the unspotted base, with rosy leaf bases. It is also characterised by the lax, unbranched, cylindrical raceme with shortly pedicellate, sub-erect to horizontal, pinkish-white, darker keeled, bilabiate, unscented flowers (14-17 mm long).

Conservation status.

Least Concern ( Von Staden 2014a).

Distribution.

Widespread but rare throughout Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, South Africa, with records from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and Namibia, possibly also in Botswana and Zimbabwe (Fig. 7 ).

Figures

Figure 7. Aloe bergeriana. Photos: G. F. Smith.