Aloe juddii

Aloe juddii
Aloe juddii in habitat.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asphodelaceae
Subfamily: Asphodeloideae
Genus: Aloe
Species: A. juddii
Binomial name
Aloe juddii

Aloe juddii (or the Koudeberg Aloe) is a newly discovered climbing aloe that is native to a few rocky outcrops and a farm ("Farm 215"), near to Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Description

Image of plant with inflorescence
Aloe juddii in its rocky habitat

It is one of the few aloes that are indigenous to the Fynbos vegetation type and it is closely related to the similarly rare Aloe commixta of Table Mountain. Like the Table Mountain Aloe, it is a slender, multi-stemmed rambling aloe, with semi-erect stems that often sprawl along the ground and over rocks.

In October and November it produces brilliant displays of bright red flowers, that are usually swiftly eaten by the tiny "Klipspringer" antelope that live in the area.

It was named after the photographer Eric Judd, who discovered it in 2004, and is known in Afrikaans as the "Baardskeerdersbosvuurpylaalwyn".[1] [2]

Distribution and habitat

Aloe juddii has a small and restricted distribution. It occurs on rocky, south-east facing slopes, in sands derived from Table Mountain Sandstone (Nardouw subgroup). These are coarse, white sands, which are mineral-poor and acidic. The plants grow in this cool sand in the shelter of the quartzite boulders which shelter them from the winds and the heat.

It is an area of predominantly winter rainfall.

This plant has yet to be classified according to the IUCN Red List but is nevertheless rare and restricted to a very small natural range.[3]

See also

Pictures

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aloe juddii.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.