Aloe excelsa

Aloe excelsa
	Aloe excelsa
Systematics
	Monocots
Order :	Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family :	Grass trees (Xanthorrhoeaceae)
Subfamily :	Affodilla family (Asphodeloideae)
Genre :	Aloes ( aloe )
Type :	Aloe excelsa
Scientific name
	Aloe excelsa
	A. Berger

In flower

Aloe excelsa is a species of aloes in the subfamily of the Affodilla family (Asphodeloideae). The specific epithet excelsa comes from Latin , means 'high' and refers to the growth of the species.

description

Vegetative characteristics

Aloe excelsa grows individually and as a stem. The upright trunk is up to 4 meters long and covered with the remains of dry leaves. The approximately 30 triangular, pointed leaves form dense rosettes . The oldest of them have bent back over time. The cloudy green leaf blade is up to 80 centimeters long and 15 centimeters wide. The underside of the leaf is usually warty-prickly. The piercing, reddish-brown teeth on the leaf margin are 5 to 6 millimeters long and 15 to 20 millimeters apart.

Inflorescences and flowers

The inflorescence consists of up to 14 branches and is 80 to 100 centimeters long. The very dense, cylindrical grapes are 15 to 25 centimeters long. The knocked back bracts have a length of 4 to 6 millimeters and are just as wide. The red or orange-colored flowers are about 1 millimeter long peduncles . The slightly bulbous flowers are 30 millimeters long and rounded at their base. At the level of the ovary , they have a diameter of 5 millimeters. Above that, they are expanded to 7 millimeters in the middle and then narrowed towards their mouth. Your outer tepals are not fused together over a length of about 15 millimeters. The stamens and the pen stand out up to 10 millimeters from the flower.

genetics

The number of chromosomes is . ${\ displaystyle 2n = 14}$

Systematics and distribution

Aloe excelsa is common in Malawi , Mozambique , Zambia , Zimbabwe and South Africa. Aloe excelsa var. Breviflora grows in Malawi and Mozambique at altitudes of 230 to 615 meters on fire-protected rock deposits.

The first description by Alwin Berger was published in 1906. A distinction is made between the following varieties :

Aloe excelsa var. Excelsa
Aloe excelsa var. Breviflora L.C. Leach

Aloe excelsa var. Breviflora
The differences to Aloe excelsa var. Excelsa are: The leaves are narrower and have no spines on either side. The flower clusters are narrower and usually less dense. The flowers are about 20 millimeters long.

The variety was first described in 1977 by Leslie Charles Leach .

proof

literature

Susan Carter , John J. Lavranos , Leonard E. Newton , Colin C. Walker : Aloes. The definitive guide . Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2011, ISBN 978-1-84246-439-7 , pp. 687-688 .
Leonard Eric Newton: Aloe excelsa . In: Urs Eggli (Hrsg.): Succulent lexicon. Monocotyledons . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3662-7 , pp. 136 .

Individual evidence

↑ Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05597-3 , p. 80.
^ Note sheet of the royal. Botanical Garden and Museum in Berlin . Volume 4, 1906, p. 247 ( online ).
↑ Kirkia . Volume 10, Number 2, 1977, pp. 387-389.

Web links

Commons : Aloe excelsa - collection of images, videos and audio files

Aloe excelsa var. Excelsa in the Red List of South African Plants

[1] Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05597-3 , p. 80.

[2] Note sheet of the royal. Botanical Garden and Museum in Berlin . Volume 4, 1906, p. 247 ( online ).

[3] Kirkia . Volume 10, Number 2, 1977, pp. 387-389.