Aloiampelos juddii flowering from a stem-tip

    Aloiampelos juddii flowering from a stem-tip
    Author: Ivan Lätti
    Photographer: Thabo Maphisa

    The branching stems of Aloiampelos juddii grow erect, or their tips are about erect, as the lower parts may creep outwards from the plant base.

    The leaves are dark green, smooth and triangular, clasping the stems. Narrow internode spacing between consecutive leaves up the stems is paler coloured than the leaves where the sheaths fit around the stems. The leaves appear broader at the base than those of A. commixta, a close relative of A. juddii. Tiny white teeth are evenly spaced along the leaf margins. The leaf margins curve upwards while a slight downwards, length-wise curve occurs towards the leaf tips.

    The flowers grow in unbranched, short racemes on sturdy, pale purplish stalks with some small, papery, bracts present. The pendulous open perianths are red with regular cylindrical shape. Faint yellow and green markings occur at the open perianth mouths (iNaturalist; Wikipedia).

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