I never knew this little guy was an aloe – although now that I think about it the red/orange flowers are very similar to the other, larger aloes I have.
Its official name is aloe aristata and they were first ‘discovered’ in the Drakensburg in KwaZulu-Natal, but their habitat stretches from the eastern Karoo to the Eastern Cape to Lesotho. They have thick, juicy leaves with small spines on them which form a rosette (the leaves, not the spines).
I’ve always grown these in pots which would explain why they have remained quite small. I think I will set one ‘free’ in my garden to see how big it gets.
