PlantFiles: Jewelled Aloe, Golden Tooth Aloe
Aloe perfoliata

The image captured (by thistlesifter) presents a distinct tight conical-shaped capitate inflorescense. Reynolds in his classic "Aloes of South Africas" shows the earliest known drawing of Aloe mitriformis created in the late 1700s. The monochrome line drawing has exactly the same capitate-style flower, that is atypical to any other illustrated in this plant file.

Reynolds states in text (in above reference) that the species has much variability in form and habit. He acknowledges having seen this capitate form in European collections, but it was his belief that it only existed in European collections, not in the field. Evidently he never encountered one in his field activities. This plant continues to grow as a single-headed plant (no offsets), that is the same as is described for the capitate variety in Reynold's book.

I have another specimen (different clone). It flowers with less of the capitate characteristic and has less of the blue (irredescense) seen in this image. I have crossed the two and and growing a few seedlings. Hopefully, I will be able to develop this beautiful strain, by creating more seedlings by super selection.

Please contact me by Dmail if you have this strain and wish to swap pollen.

bob
:>)

I have not grown this Aloe myself, but is commonly found in the local botanical gardens, and shows a great variety of color of the leaves, as well as the brightly colored flowers. It is a profusely suckering species, and one plant can eventually cover a large area.

THis is a sprawling form of Aloe- it crawls along the ground or up along trunks and rocks. It suckers and then moves slowly across the landsape like a bunch of spiny blue-green snakes. The flowers are a circular arrangement of simple, coral tubular petals and quite attractive and are identicle to those of Aloe mitriformis. (Both 'species' have been lumped together now and referred to as Aloe perfoliata). If given room to spread, it can make a great specimen plant for a xeriscape garden. I found it to be an easy grow and not necessarily a big attractor of ants and their associated pests... though it is sometimes infected with aloe mite.

It is definitely one of the more cold hardy aloes showing no damage to temps in the mid 20s in southern California.

At the time I originally wrote these comments, Aloe distans was a distinct species... but now both Aloe distans and Aloe mitriformis have been lumped together, which seems weird as they are quite distinct plants in cultivation (perhaps there is some 'intermediate' form in nature)... with one being a creeper with long stems completely covered with leaves and the other (mitriformis) a short, compact clumper with no inclination to sprawl at all... hmmm