Aloe, a hybrid

Hybrids occur much in nature among Aloe species that bloom simultaneously in the same region.

Such plants may extend the range of variability people expect from a species they are familiar with or add confusion, particularly if the other contributing partner producing the mixture of attributes is not recognised. Hybrids of hybrids also occur, while deliberate horticultural hybrids and cultivars extend the range of the aloes seen.

Some hybrids become famous for their desirable attributes, especially floral superiority. This involves size, colour and shape of perianths and racemes but also the time and duration of flowering. When the attractive plant also grows easily and is resistant to disease, it makes the sought-after list that nurseries take pains to provide.

Then there are the gardeners that seek the lesser options, the unobtrusive plants often missed, shunning the fashionable garden varieties, cultivars and hybrids. Some favour only the natural, while others seek to contrive the extremely cultured and unique. That which pleases people is full of surprises, deviations, sudden whims and opposites. We're part of nature after all and may as well celebrate the novelty with some of our own!

The plant in picture has leaf attributes of Aloe arborescens. The number of racemes in the panicle is, however, too high for that species. A. arborescens often hybridises with A. ferox in areas where they both grow. A. ferox produces more racemes per inflorescence, giving a possible explanation of what goes on here. The flatness of the peduncles, the size and shape of the bracts and particularly the open flowers soon to come may generate more clues and theories.