Aloidendron dichotomum leaves

A fully developed leaf rosette of Aloidendron dichotomum at a stem tip consists of about 20 leaves. Each mature leaf clasps the stem, the new ones emerging in sequence from the tip. As new leaves grow, the oldest ones wither and drop off, leaving the stem bare and smooth quite close to the tip.

The thickly succulent leaves are narrowly lance-shaped to linear. Leaf dimensions are 25 cm to 35 cm long by 5 cm wide at the base.

The upper surface of the leaf is flat to slightly channelled; the lower one convex. The leaf margins are yellow-brown, cartilaginous ridges upon which tiny triangular teeth are spaced evenly.

The marginal teeth are about 1 mm long, decreasing in size towards the leaf tip where they are almost absent; also insignificant on old leaves.

The leaf colour is blue-green to grey-green, sometimes yellowish. The leaf sap is clear (Reynolds, 1974; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Jeppe, 1969).