Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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Toko
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Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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Index to Trees & Shrubs in the Order Asparagales

Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae
28.1 Aloe arborescens Krantz Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 41#p210941
29 Aloe dichotoma Quiver Tree https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 62#p171566
29.2 Aloe ferox Bitter Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 88#p171572
29.4 Aloe littoralis Mopane Aloe, Windhoek Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 81#p213381
29.5 Aloe marlothii Mountain Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 88#p171581
30. Aloe pilansii Giant Quiver Tree, Bastard Quiver Tree https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 88#p171584
30.2 Aloe ramosissima Maiden's Quiver Tree https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 06#p171606
30.4 Aloe spicata Lebombo Aloe, Gazaland Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 23#p171623


Genus Aloe in the Africa Wild Flower Book
Aloe chabaudii Chabaud's Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 26#p170726
Aloe ecklonis, Aloe kraussii, Aloe boylei Grass Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 27#p170727
Aloe pearsonii Pearson's Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 92#p171992
Aloe vanbalenii Van Balen's Aloe https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 28#p170728


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Re: Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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29. Quiver Tree Aloidendron dichotomum, formerly Aloe dichotoma (Kokerboom)
Order: Asparagales. Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae

Image © Toko
Goegap Nature Reserve, Namaqualand

Image © Toko
Goegap Nature Reserve, Namaqualand

Image © Lisbeth
Augrabies

Description
This distinctive tree aloe has smooth branches, which are covered with a thin layer of whitish powder that helps to reflect away the hot sun's rays. The bark on the trunk forms golden brown scales, which are razor sharp. The crown is often densely rounded as a result of the repeatedly forked branches, hence the species name dichotoma. (dichotomous meaning forked). The blue-green leaves are borne on terminal rosettes, but in juvenile plants the leaves are ranked in vertical rows. The bright yellow flowers are borne from June to July. The young flower buds can be eaten and have a similar appearance and taste to asparagus. Sugar birds are drawn to these flowers in winter where they feed on the nectar produced by the flowers. Aloe dichotoma is an extremely tough tree that may reach an age of over 80 years and a height of approximately 7 m.

Distribution
It occurs in rocky areas, from near Nieuwoudtville northwards into Namibia and eastwards to Upington and Kenhardt.

Habitat
Succulent karoo.


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Re: Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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29.2 Bitter aloe Aloe ferox
Order: Asparagales. Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae

Image
Bontebok National Park

Image

Image
Ithala Game Reserve

Description
The bitter aloe is most famous for its medicinal qualities, provided by the sap of the leaves.
It can reach 3 metres in height. The long, tapering leaves are green, sometimes with a slightly blue or reddish tinge and sharp, brown teeth on the margins. The leaves are arranged in a rosette, and as the age and old dry leaves remain attached to the plant, forming a ‘petticoat’ around the base of the stem. The flowers are carried in a candelabra-like flower-head with between five and eight branches. The flowers of the bitter aloe vary in colour from red to orange and yellow, and occasionally white. Flowering occurs between May and September.

Distribution It occurs in South Africa, ranging from the southern Western Cape, east to southern KwaZulu-Natal, and north into Lesotho and in the south eastern corner of the Free State.

Habitat
Aloe ferox inhabits rocky, stony slopes often in very large numbers and flats. In the south western Cape it grows in grassy fynbos and in the southern and Eastern Cape it may also be found on the edges of the karoo. It grows in the open and in bushy areas.

Links: Braam Van Wyk: A Photographic Guide to Wild Flowers of South Africa; Rina Grant, Val Thomas: Sappi Tree Spotting: Highlands: Highveld, Drakensberg, Eastern Cape Mountains

Image © PJL
Mountain Zebra National Park


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Re: Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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29.5 Mountain Aloe Aloe marlothii (Bergalwyn)
Order: Asparagales. Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae

Image © Dzombo
Kruger National Park, Lower Sabie camp

Description:
Aloe marlothii is a large, perennial, succulent, single-stemmed aloe, usually 2-4 m tall (occasionally up to 6 m), with old dried leaves remaining on the stem below the upper living leaves. Leaves are large, broad and succulent, light green to greyish green to blue-green, up to 1500 x 250 mm, having a broad base tapering to a sharp point, covered with spines on upper and lower surfaces and maroon- coloured teeth with orange tips along leaf margins.
Flowers are held on racemes on a branched candelabra-shaped inflorescence, having up to 30 racemes (single spikes covered with individual flowers). Flower colour varies from the typical orange-red to yellow or bright red and may be present between May and September. The distinguishing character lies in the slanted inflorescences. They are usually almost horizontal but may be almost vertical in some forms.

Distribution
Aloe marlothii occurs from the North-West Province, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumulanga, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal north of Durban, from sea level to 1 600 m. Mountain ranges of the Drakensburg, Lebombo, Zoutpansberg and Waterberg have large populations of the species.

Habitat
It is found mainly in bushveld vegetation along mountainous areas, rocky terrain and slopes where temperatures are warmer and frost infrequent.

Links: Ernst Schmidt, Mervyn Lotter, Warren McCleland: Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park, Rina Grant, Val Thomas: Sappi Tree Spotting: Highlands: Highveld, Drakensberg, Eastern Cape Mountains; Braam Van Wyk: A Photographic Guide to Wild Flowers of South Africa

Image © Toko
Kruger National Park, Red Rocks Loop S52


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Re: Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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30. Giant Quiver Tree, Bastard Quiver Tree Aloidendron pilansii, fromerly Aloe pilansii
Order: Asparagales. Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae

Image

Image

Image
Richtersveld National Park

Description
This succulent tree can be up to ten metres tall; The trunk is thick at the base, narrowing towards the branches, there are only a few branches high up on the trunk and reaching skywards, whilst the leaves tend to droop down. The crown is sparse. The bark is pale and smooth, often flaking off in large shield-like sections. Leaves are Simple, whorled, blue-green to yellowish-green and droop downwards, clasping the branches in rosettes (300 x 100 mm). The margins are edged with small, yellowish-brown teeth. Branched flower-spikes are bright yellow, and sprout from below the leaf rosettes. They hang downwards (Oct) 30 mm). Fruit is a capsule.

Distribution
Largely restricted to an area in the Richtersveld in the Cape Province and southern Namibia.

Habitat
Aloe pilansii is mainly confined to intensely hot and arid areas of the Succulent Karoo biome which receive winter rainfall which may be supplemented with fog precipitation. It grows on rocky, gravel slopes of mountain summits and occasionally on sandy plains.

Conservation Status
The species is labeled as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Its distribution occurs only in a narrow band. A serious decline in the population has reduced the numbers to less than 200 individuals. There is no recruitment and the older plants are dying. Recent surveys suggest that there has been very little successful reproduction in the last 100 years. Many of the older trees are dying, indicating that the population does not appear to be naturally regenerating. Similar declines in population regeneration in sister species Aloe dichotoma have been attributed to climate change and it is very likely that the Bastard Quiver Tree is being affected similarly. These effects are worsened by the removal of plants by collectors, as well as through herbivory by baboon, porcupines, rock rabbits and livestock, which also trample young plants.

Image
Goegap Nature Reserve, Northern Cape

Links: A revised generic classification for Aloe (Xanthorrhoeaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae)


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Re: Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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30.2 Maiden's Quiver Tree Aloidendron ramosissimum, formerly Aloe ramosissima (Nooiens-kokerboom)
Order: Asparagales. Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae

Image
Helskloof, Richtersveld National Park

Description
A bushy aloe which is considered by some some botanists to be doubtfully distinct from A. dichotoma, except that the main stem rarely exceeds 60 cm. Much branchend from near the base. Branching continues as the plant becomes older, resulting in a dense, almost spherical shrub up to 2 m high and wide. The stems are smooth and covered with a waxy, grey powder, which acts as a sunscreen in the harsh climate. The branches end in small rosettes of fleshy, oblong leaves, each up to 200 mm long and 20 mm wide at the base. The leaf colour is glaucous-green or yellowish green, often with a pinkish tinge. The margins have narrow edges with brownish teeth. The flowers appear from June to August. The usually 3-branched inflorescence is short, up to 200 mm long, with comparatively large, swollen, fleshy flowers which are bright yellow. The capsules are shiny and smooth and when dry, split into three, remaining fused at the base. Seeds are narrow, winged, up to about 30 x18 mm.

Distribution
It is restricted to desert mountainsides and arid ravines in the Richtersveld of the Northern Cape and south-western Namibia.

Habitat
Dry, rocky areas, often on hillsides. They rely on winter rains that average around 110 mm or less per annum. It is not at all uncommon in this area for summer temperatures to rise to 46ºC and years may pass before any rain falls.

Conservation Status
Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List and listed on Appendix II of CITES.


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Re: Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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30.4 Lebombo Aloe, Gazaland Aloe Aloe spicata
Order: Asparagales. Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae

Image © Dzombo
Kruger National Park, Olifants Camp

Description
Shrub or tree-like succulent plant. Stem erect, simple or branched, 1-2 m tall, sometimes forming shrubs with decumbent stems. Leaves in a dense rosette, spreading becoming recurved, 60-80 cm long, green but often entirely coppery-red in dry conditions; margin reddish with 3-angular teeth. Inflorescences 1-5, simple, erect, up to 1m high. Raceme very densely many-flowered, 30-50 cm long, cylindric; bracts pale brown, c. 10 × 6 mm, ovate-acuminate. Flowers subsessile, c. 15 mm long, campanulate, greenish-yellow to golden yellow.

Distribution
Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Northern KwaZulu-Natal, northwards along the Lebombo Mountains through Swaziland to Komatipoort and Barberton, southern Mpumalanga. It also occurs further northwards throughout the Lowveld and along the escarpment to the Wolkberg, southern Limpopo Province. Somewhat disjunct subpopulations are also known from the Soutpansberg in northern Limpopo Province. A. spicata also occurs in southern Mozambique around Maputo and in Zimbabwe.

Habitat
Highly variable, including a very wide altitudinal range from the Mpumalanga Lowveld to the top of the escarpment. Plants are often found in rocky areas, including steep slopes and cliffs, but show no preference for a particular geology or soil type.

Links:
Ernst Schmidt, Mervyn Lotter, Warren McCleland: Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park
http://pza.sanbi.org/aloe-spicata


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Re: Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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28.1 Krantz Aloe Aloe arborescens (Kransaalwyn)
Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae

Image © Duke
Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens, Johannesburg

Description:
A multiheaded shrub 2-3 m high with striking grey green leaves arranged in attractive rosettes. The greyish-green to bright green leaves vary considerably in length, averaging from 500 to 600 mm. The leaf margins are armed with conspicuous pale teeth. The large colourful flower spikes are borne in profusion during the cold winter months (May-July), brightening up a drab winter garden. Deep orange is the most common colour, but there are also pure yellow forms, and an unusual bi-coloured form of deep orange (almost red) and yellow. The inflorescence is usually unbranched, with two to several arising from a single rosette. As with all the aloes, the flowers produce nectar and are attractive to many kinds of birds, in particular the small and colourful sunbirds, which flit from flower to flower in search of nectar. The flowers also attract bees.
The species formerly known as Aloe mutabilis is now regarded as a synonym of Aloe arborescens. It is a cliff dwelling form with smaller, less branched rosettes and red & yellow bi-coloured flower spikes and is more evident on the high inland plateau of the northern provinces of South Africa. This cliff dwelling form of Aloe arborescens can be seen hanging from the cliffs alongside the waterfall at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden.

Distribution
From the Cape Peninsula along the eastern coast of southern Africa through the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces in South Africa. Also occurs in Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. The third most widespread of all Aloe species.

Habitat
Variable. Occurs most often in rocky outcrops, or on exposed ridges and krantzes in mountainous areas.

Links: Ernst Schmidt, Mervyn Lotter, Warren McCleland: Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park


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Re: Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Asparagales

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29.4 Mopane Aloe, Windhoek Aloe Aloe littoralis (Bergaalwyn)
Order: Asparagales. Superfamily: Xanthorrhoeacea. Family: Asphodelaceae

Image © PRWIN
Botswana, Nata Bird Sanctuary

Description
Aloe littoralis is quite a variable species but it can be identified by it's height and that it is single-stemmed. Stems are solitary and can reach a height of up to 3 meters. Stem partly covered with leaves and leaf remains. Leaves are succulent and greyish-green in colour, 600 mm in length and 120 mm wide, leaf surfaces (specially when young) are sometimes marked with numerous white spots, the lower leaf surface more so. Leaf margins are armed with numerous teeth that are brown to reddish-brown in colour. The inflorescence is a complex raceme that can be branched into ten racemes which are narrow and sparsely flowered. Flowers are pale red or deep red with yellow tips and have a silvery sheen caused by a waxy layer.

Distribution
Found in Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is only found to the north of South Africa in the Northern Province.

Habitat
Found in a variety of habitats. Often in flat open bushveld.

Links: Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park


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