PlantFiles: Spiny Aloe, Uitenhage Aloe
Aloe africana

Natural distribution around Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape of South Africa up to 300m (990ft). Beautifull flower (raceme), mainly late winter to spring, but not uncommon to find flowers in other times of the year.

This plant grows well in full sun in Southern California. It is easily rooted in potting soil with warmth.

This is a great tree Aloe for So Cal... it has a great blue-green color in full, hot sun, and it's striking yellow flowers attract bees and hummingbirds from all around. Unfortunately it also attracts a lot of ants, and mealy bug, scale etc., so watch for that. It is not one of the more 'user friendly' aloes, though, in that it is covered with short, very strong, sharp spines that easily removed linear shreds of epidermis as you brush by a leaf too closely. Ouch. Flowers in winter (and rarely in summer)- yellow-orange columnar racemes up to 3' tall... flowers have unique upturned look near base of flower stalk (so can tell apart from other aloes) while the rest of the raceme has flattened flowers pointing towards the ground.

In a recent freeze here in So Cal (Jan 07), where temps were into the mid 20s, this aloe shows no damage, even as a seedlings, though many other species melted at this temp... This is a reliable zone 9b plant!