Aloe distans

Aloe distans, commonly in Afrikaans the strandaalwyn (beach aloe), is a branched, sprawling or creeping aloe with stems of sometimes longer than 3 m lying on the ground. Stems may root where nodes touch the ground, presenting groups of many stem-tip rosettes. The young plant of the photo is in cultivation.

The succulent, often blue green leaves are lance-shaped to triangular, up to 15 cm long and 7 cm wide at the base. The upper surfaces are nearly flat to channelled, the lower ones convex. Few scattered tuberculate spots may occur on the lower leaf parts, as well as a few keel spines. The marginal teeth are pale yellowish, small and rigid.

The inflorescences are few-branched panicles, the short racemes dense and head-like. The perianths are slightly curved, cylindrical to triangular, scarlet and about 4 cm long. The style and stamens are slightly exserted.

The species distribution in the far west of the Western Cape is small, around Saldanha, Paternoster, St. Helena Bay and towards Malmesbury.

The habitat is coastal granite outcrops, renosterveld and limestone strandveld. The habitat population is considered vulnerable early in the twenty first century, due to habitat loss from farming and other human activities (Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Reynolds, 1974; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).