Aloiampelos decumbens, the Langeberg rambling aloe

The leaves and stems of Aloiampelos decumbens, sometimes called the Langeberg rambling aloe, resemble those of A. gracilis from which it had been separated. A. gracilis also resembles A. commixta and A. ciliaris, more of the rambling aloes now taxonomically positioned in Aloiampelos. Relationships include another rare species with some likeness, A. juddii, found near Cape Agulhas.

In fact, the shrubby or rambling aloes have similarities that call for a closer look when separating them in identification; the geography of natural species distribution helping somewhat.

The flowers of A. decumbens are borne in sparsely flowered cylindrical to conical, unbranched racemes of 11 cm in length. The flowers, the perianths, are 3 cm long and cylindrical, slightly widening at the mouth. The flowers are scarlet in colour and pendulous when open. The filaments are white; the inner and outer anthers exserted in turn, the inner three first. The style is lemon coloured, the stigma exserted to about 3 mm.

Flowering happens at different times during the year, more frequently during summer according to Reynolds. This plant was seen in Kirstenbosch (Reynolds, 1974; Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Wikipedia).