Botanical name |
Aloe cryptopoda |
Other names |
Geelaalwyn (Afrikaans); aloe wickensii |
Family |
Asphodelaceae |
Dimensions |
Stemless; single, large rosette, often 70 cm tall |
Description of stem |
Absent to closely so |
Description of leaves |
Narrow, erect, green or greyish green, sometimes with broad banding across the leaf; smooth leaf surfaces with small, red-brown teeth only on the edges |
Description of flowers |
A few branched inflorescences may emerge from the same rosette, about 1,5 m tall; some plants have racemes that are longer, narrower, conical and monocoloured red, orange or yellow; others are shorter and bicoloured as the perianths start off red, turning yellow upon opening as in A. lutescens; this bicolour variation used to be called A. wickensii in the past |
Description of seed/fruit |
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Description of roots |
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Variation |
Some of the plants will flower before the normal winter flowering period, as early as February; a somewhat confusing variety of flower forms exists |
Propagation and cultivation |
Transplants easily and grows readily from seed; slow-growing |
Tolerances |
Part to full sun; tolerates different watering patterns, e.g. some watering in winter or even very little water throughout the year |
Uses |
A popular garden plant, good in dry garden areas or for 'xeriscaping' |
Ecological rarity |
Common |
Pests and diseases |
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Other |
Cryptopoda means hidden foot |
Location |
Grassland and rocky patches |
Distribution (SA provinces) |
North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, but generally to the south of where A. lutescens is normally found, although there are Zimbabwean recordings of the plant being indigenous there as well |
Country |
South Africa, Zimbabwe |