Aloe aculeata

Water:

April-September: 1 x every 2 weeks*

October-March: 1x per month *

*This is only for a sunny location

Light: sunny

Nutrition: 1x per month (May-September)

Aloe aculeata is a beautiful aloe found in the wild in South Africa in the Northern Province and Mpumalanga, extending into Zimbabwe. Here, this aloe grows in rocky areas in grasslands and open bushveld.

Aloe aculeata is usually a solitary, stemless rosette plant that grows to about 60 cm, sometimes up to 100 cm tall, and can reach 30 to 100 cm in diameter. The name 'aculeata' means spiny and refers to the many spiky protrusions on the leaf.

The leaves are long and quite broad at the base, about 120 mm wide. They are dark green to turquoise in color. The leaves curve upwards like a bowl, giving the plant a beautiful semi-circular silhouette. Over the years, the plant loses some of this beautiful silhouette and tends to droop.

The spines are what makes this aloe special. Reddish-brown triangular spines grow on the edges and on the underside of the leaves. These spines have a white base, which gives the plant a speckled appearance. However, the spines vary greatly from plant to plant, and many older specimens no longer have spines.

Aloe aculeata blooms in mid-winter with tubular flowers about 40 mm long. The flowers are flattened downwards, which distinguishes this aloe from many other South African aloe species. The flower color varies greatly and can be red, orange, red and yellow, or greenish-yellow. Some specimens are unicolored while others are bicolored. In young plants, the inflorescence is single and can grow up to 1 meter high. As the plant ages, the inflorescence splits into three or four branches.

A: Aloe B: NL-765431734 C: D: EN