This is a unique aloe that when in flower is difficult to confuse with anything else. This Zimbabwe aloe is a stemless, solitary plant with extra wide leaves that a somewhat bendable, but mostly flat, turquoise to dull green lined with large, white fairly sharp teeth. Plants get about 1' to 18" tall and about as wide. Flowers in late winter/early spring are solitary affairs on usually multibranched inflorescences that have a thick, short pedicle (barely makes it above the leaf tops and then branches extend horizontally about 18" and are densely flowered with upright red or orange flowers- very similar to the flower arrangement seen in
Aloe mawii, and inflorescence shape reminiscent of those of
Aloe marlothii or
Aloe globulogemma. My own aloe, photographed below, only flowered once, and since it was its maiden flowering, it only produced a single branch. Next time maybe more typical flowering?
- Aloe ortholopha 10-08.jpg (116.76 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha Irvine.jpg (159.68 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha side view 9-07.jpg (124.1 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholpha Huntington.jpg (115.24 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha flower maturing 1-09.jpg (117.09 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha flower with bracts 1-09.jpg (60.09 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha in bloom 3-09.jpg (110.87 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha flower progressing rapidly now.jpg (76.72 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha blooming nicely 3-09.JPG (54.39 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha flowers 3-09.jpg (71.42 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
- Aloe ortholopha FINALLY blooming open 3-09.jpg (47.55 KiB) Viewed 2134 times
