Aloe minima Baker

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 minima Baker

Common names.

Pink grass aloe (English); isipukushane, isipukutwane, isiputuma, isiphuthumane, isiphukhutshane (Zulu).

Description.

Grass aloe, 0.2-0.3 m high. Acaulescent plants; rosettes single, erect. Leaves rosulate, suberect, rather rigid, green, lower surface with copious slightly tuberculate-spinulescent spots towards base, linear, 25-35 cm long, 0.4-0.6 cm wide; margin ciliate, with minute whitish teeth in lower half, up to 0.5 mm long, 1-2 mm apart; exudate clear. Inflorescence 0.25-0.50 m high, erect, simple. Raceme capitate, ± 3 cm long, dense. Floral bracts 5-12 mm long, 3-5 mm wide. Pedicels 10-20 mm long. Flowers: perianth dull pink, 10-11 mm long, ± 3-4 mm across ovary, narrowing towards upturned mouth, basally stipitate, cylindric-trigonous; outer segments free to base; stamens and stigma not or only slightly exserted.

Flowering time.

January-February.

Habitat.

Hilly and mountainous grassland on fairly heavy soils with loose stones.

Diagnostic characters.

Aloe minima 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 linearifolia , Aloe micracantha , Aloe nicholsii , Aloe parviflora and Aloe saundersiae ), by the short inflorescence (0.25-0.50 m high) with dense, capitate racemes and pedicels 10-20 mm long. The peduncle is smooth (without prickles as in Aloe parviflora ). Flowers are small (10-11 mm long) and dull pink, with a spreading, upturned mouth. The rosulate leaves (25-35 × 0.4-0.6 cm) are suberect and rather rigid, with copious slightly tuberculate-spinulescent spots towards the base on the lower surface. Rosettes are solitary.

Conservation status.

Least Concern ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Distribution.

Occurs from the far northern parts of the Eastern Cape, just south of Port Edward, widespread through KwaZulu-Natal and along the Great Escarpment into Mpumalanga, South Africa and western Eswatini (Fig. 24 ).

Figures

Figure 24. Aloe minima. Photo: N. R. Crouch.