The mountainous parts of Namaqualand from Steinkopf to Garies -and some isolated places around Calvinia- are home to this Aloe. The plants are up to 3 m tall, usually with only one unbranched stem. The flowers appear in winter (June-July).
Photographed 10 July 2011, southeast of Kamieskroon.
Tag: Asphodelaceae (Aloaceae)
Astroloba corrugata
Unless they grow in deep shade (they are often found under shrubs), these plants commonly have a sickly orange-brown colour. One regularly sees the same phenomenon in some other species of Astroloba and Haworthia (see H. viscosa). The plants occur from Worcester to Ladismith and can be locally abundant. They are up to 20 cm tall. Doreen Court in her “Succulent flora of southern Africa” mentions a height of 30-80 cm, but this is probably a mistake. The flowers are produced in late spring and summer (Oct.-Feb.).
The picture of the flowers was taken in cultivation (scan from slide).
Gasteria bicolor v. bicolor
This plant is widely distributed in the eastern Cape and is typical for the subtropical thicket of the area. I has a short leafy stem up to 20 cm tall and slightly twisted leaves with a sharp off-center tip.
The inflorescence is quite impressive: 1-1.5 m tall, with up to 8 side-branches.
Pictures taken near Uitenhage, 25 Oct. 2012
Haworthia viscosa
Although rather variable, this species is easy to identify (H. nigra is the only other Haworthia in which the leaves are arranged in three ranks). The species is tall as Haworthias go: up to 30 cm. It is widely distributed from halfway between Laingsburg and Sutherland, throughout the central, eastern and southern Karoo and the Little Karoo, with an outlying habitat near Graaff-Reinet. In shade the plants are green, but one often encounters them in very arid places in full sun, where they usually become brownish, reddish or orange.
Aloe variegata
This beautiful and distinctive plant was one of the first Aloes to be successfully cultivated in Europe.
The Afrikaans common name is Kanniedood (cannot die), which may explain why one sees it often planted on graves. It is widely distributed in the dry parts of southern Africa.
The plants prefer stony ground in partial shade (I have never seen a more healthy plant than the one my mother used to grow on her shaded windowsill - and that was in in Holland, not a country known for it abundant sunshine to start with).
Haworthia scabra v. scabra
Aloe lineata v. muirii
Whereas in v. lineata the leaves are bluish-green, in this variety they have a striking yellow-green colour.
The first two pictures were taken in arid fynbos on the Rooiberg plateau near Calitzdorp (24 August 2007).
The next ones were taken in an old pine plantation near Herold (6 and 17 Nov. 2009).
Haworthia bayeri
This beautiful species occurs from near Willowmore to just west of Oudtshoorn.
Unfortunately, the place near De Rust where these pictures were taken is now almost completely stripped of this and other interesting succulents. A result of plain unadulterated greed!
The first four pictures were taken between 18 and 28 Sept., the other two 20 Nov.
