Aloe rupestris

[Geoff]

This is a South African tree aloe which, in the wild, is nearly always solitary. However, at least in California, this plant nearly always is a super aggressive suckerer, unlike any I have ever seen in the tree aloe family. I had two plants in my garden and I removed the suckers on these trees yearly and yet a year later many dozens took their place... suckering is actually low branching as all suckers arose from the very stem base. I must have rooted over 200 cuttings from these two plants and neither aged enough to produce a single flower yet (no longer have these plants now). Leaves are unbending (or very barely bending), stiff, long, narrow, moderately channeled, straight to slightly incurved, a deep dull green and incredibly armed with extremely sharp, often hooked red-brown teeth. This is among one of the most dangerous tree aloes to walk by (until leaves over your head)- will easily and readily tear off any exposed flesh brushed up against them. I probably lost a good pint of blood over the years thanks to these two trees of mine. These are relatively fast growers, going from 8" seedlings to 5' tall plants in about 6-7 years. Flowers are the reason these plants are worth growing... probably the most fluorescent of all the tree aloe flowers, with the beehive-shaped tightly packed, short-columnar racemes suddenly opening up thrusting the brilliant orange-red-vermillion stamens and styles out a good inch beyond the flower mouths (look like psychodelic bottle brushes from a distance)... flowers in mid to late winter. Very hardy plant tolerating all my frosts (down to 24F) with minimal leaf damage. Handle nearly full shade to full sun.

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Aloe rupestris and Aloe excelsa.jpg (168.87 KiB) Viewed 2128 times

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Aloe rupestris flower done.jpg (84.78 KiB) Viewed 2128 times

[Stan]

My non clumping(so far) form. With King Protea and Aloe nobilis. A hummer fed just as I was standing there.
This Aloe was thin stemmed in a pot...got top heavy in ground and the top snapped off...Now perfect.

[Stan]

Today,still not quite full bloom maybe.

[Stan]

The stalk has survived being possibly plucked to now be in full bloom.