Aloe melanacantha

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

Aloe melanacantha is a species of the genus Aloes in the subfamily of the Affodil family (Asphodeloideae). The specific epithet melanacantha is derived from the Greek words melano for 'black' and acantha for 'sting' and refers to the black teeth on the leaf edge.

description

Vegetative characteristics

Aloe melanacantha grows in a stem-forming manner, simply or usually in groups. The trunk is upright and short or becomes prostrate over time and then reaches a length of up to 50 centimeters and more. It is covered with perennial dead leaves. The deltoid-lanceolate leaves form dense rosettes . The cloudy deep green to brownish green leaf blade is up to 20 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide. The underside of the leaf is keeled in the upper half. The keel is covered with about six black spines up to 10 millimeters in length. The stinging black teeth on the leaf margin are 10 millimeters long and 10 to 15 millimeters apart.

Inflorescences and flowers

The simple inflorescence , sometimes a branch, reaches a length of up to 100 centimeters. The dense, cylindrically narrowed grapes are 20 to 25 inches long and 8 inches wide. The bracts have a length of 25 millimeters and are 7 millimeters wide. The bright scarlet flowers turn yellow and stand on 15 millimeter long peduncles . The flowers are about 45 millimeters long and rounded at their base. They are slightly expanded above the ovary and finally narrowed slightly towards the mouth. Your outer tepals are almost not fused together. The stamens and the stylus barely protrude from the flower.

genetics

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

Systematics and distribution

Aloe melanacantha is found in the South African province of North Cape on sandy, rocky slopes at heights of 50 to 700 meters.

The first description by Alwin Berger was published in 1905. Aloe melanacantha is closely related to Aloe erinacea .

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. 236 .
Leonard Eric Newton: Aloe melanacantha . In: Urs Eggli (Hrsg.): Succulent lexicon. Monocotyledons . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3662-7 , pp. 158 .

Individual evidence

↑ Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05597-3 , p. 151.
↑ Alwin Berger: About the systematic structure of the genus Aloe . In: Botanical yearbooks for systematics, plant history and plant geography . Volume 36, Number 1, 1905, p. 63 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Aloe melanacantha - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Aloe melanacantha 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. 151.

[2] Alwin Berger: About the systematic structure of the genus Aloe . In: Botanical yearbooks for systematics, plant history and plant geography . Volume 36, Number 1, 1905, p. 63 ( online ).