PlantFiles: Aloe
Aloe sladeniana

A very tough Aloe. Has survived all summer out in my garden with lots of sun and almost no water for 4 months in regular 40C heat. Mine flowered just recently (March-summer) however I have also experienced, as palmbob mentioned, that the first flower fails and the second one comes good. I have only had it for one year so it will be interesting to see what happens next time.

This plant, also from Namibia, sometimes can be confused with Aloe dinteri- both have thick, triangular spotted leaves with itty bitty closely spaced teeth along them, and pale pink-orange flowers in early summer on very long, skinny racemes (at least that's when these two bloom here in So California). But Aloe sladeniana has straight leaves, or even leaves that curve in slightly towards the center of the rosette, as apposed to the recurving leaves of A dinteri. They are about the same sized plant, too. Not sure if this one suckers much, but A dinteri certainly does. Nice, neat, sturdy little aloe- great for pots and small areas of the yard.

In my limited experience (have only grown a few of these) is one of the easier aloes to rot with overwatering, particularly in high heat situations.

Also have noticed that both this and A dinteri, at least in my garden, tend to produce multiple flowers during the summer, but the first flowering attempt always fails, with the flower peduncle/stalk developing a thin spot and the flower drooping and failing to develop. Both A dinteris and my A sladeniana have done this now every time two years in a row- developing this failed flower attempt followed always byl a successful one or two.... not sure it this is a common situation, but thought I'd mention it.