Aloe burgersfortensis

Aloe burgersfortensis is a spotted aloe usually growing solitary or forming small groups from suckering. In flower the plant is about 1,5 m tall.

The dark green to brownish leaf rosette is variably white spotted, the spots to some extent positioned in transverse bands. Small, sharp teeth are present along the leaf margins. The leaf-tips are usually dry and twisted. The leaf sap is clear.

The red flowers with orange perianth tube mouths appear early to midwinter in large, erect panicles. This is especially impressive when large stands of the plant flower in unison in the open. Some plants bear orange perianths with yellow mouths.

The distribution of this South African endemic is restricted in a small range in Limpopo. The plants grow along the Steelpoort River, the Spekboom River, the Waterval River and in the vicinity of the towns Lydenburg, Barberton and Burgersfort. 

The habitat is shaded or exposed dry and hot bushveld in sandy soils. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Reynolds, 1974; Jeppe, 1969; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).