Aloe perfoliata

Aloe perfoliata, the mitre aloe has long thin stems, seemingly too weak to keep the dense load of stout leaves erect. This plant is known as one of the creeping aloes with stems that often lie on the ground and just the rosettes at the ends of branches pointing upwards. The stem of the young Kirstenbosch plant in picture has not quite succumbed to gravity yet.

The leaves of A. perfoliata are triangular, clasping the stems in the encircling fashion that gave rise to the specific epithet perfoliata. The leaves spread in erect fashion or curve inwardly a little. The yellowish teeth on the leaf edges and keels turn darker on older leaves. It is not known whether the scattered whitish spots on the outside of the leaves on the photographed specimen are common. Some sources also do not mention the teeth on the keels as Jeppe does.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape, slightly extending into the southwest of the Northern Cape and the southwest of the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is diverse, some rocky fynbos flats. The status of the species population is unknown early in the twenty first century, due to data deficiency or confusion with identification (Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Hankey and Winter, undated, unpublished; Jeppe, 1969; http://redlist.sanbi.org).