Saturday, September 20, 2008

Aloe arborescens in habitat.
Aloe arborescens  has a very wide 
distribution from the eastern side of 
the Cape peninsula up through the
 eastern regions of Mozambique, 
Zimbabwe and Malawi.
These photos were taken in the 
Tradouw Pass of the Small Karoo.






6 comments:

Lucy Corrander said...

I hadn't realised they flowered so brightly!

Lucy Corrander
PICTURES JUST PICTURES

Anonymous said...

I so appreciate your photos and descriptions of aloes in the wild. It makes it easier to understand the plant.

Unknown said...

Breath-taking photos! The blooms are gorgeous!

ericat said...

I am not a very good or intelligent photographer. It would have given an idea of size if one of us stood next to the plants. The plants are on average 2 meter high without the flowers.
Aloe arboresens has lovely flowers and bright colors. red orange bi-color or yellow. This aloe is used in many hybrids for speed of growth and the flowers are large and densely packed.
There is one catch - not sure if I should mention it - snakes love to live in those bushes. We do not let the bushes grow so thick in the garden.

J.J. Cedar Glader said...

I am drooling over your aloes! we have false aloes here that are actually agave relatives and that's about it, we call them "rattlesnake master" because they're always in the glades where you'd chance to come scross a rattlesnake, hey at least they give fair warning!
What about the smell are those aloes as fragrant as they look?

ericat said...

Hi J.J. Cedar Glader. You have a very interesting world to enjoy. Are there such a lot of rattlesnakes or are they just easy provoked? Most snakes here are rarely seen as they flee away from humans, except the puffader. This snake rely on camouflage which is unfortunate as it gets stepped on and then it bites.
Back to aloes. Most are not fragrant, or maybe a very faint fragrance. Aloe marlothii and Aloe ferox have a very soft musky fragrance. Very nice actually. Most people here do not even realize any aloes have a fragrant smell.