Aloe suprafoliata taking it lying down

When life gets tough but not yet too tough for carrying on, gravity is befriended more closely. This holds for many species.

This Aloe suprafoliata of the mountain veld near Barberton has made its peace with lower standards of elevation. Its two inflorescences are still standing though, curving up from the inclined top of the leaf rosette. The earlier, spent flowering was clearly a taller achievement than the more recent effort. Yet, the currently open flowers in the midsection of the latter one leave little to be desired. Below that, the lower, withered flowers may well be on their way to producing healthy, upturned fruit capsules. The buds at the top of the raceme face up, appearing ready to open when their turn comes.

Only about one whorl of old dry leaves still remains below the live rosette. The leafless lower stem part is quite smooth where the old leaves have been discarded.

Boulders for company (or furniture) bring benefits of temperature, moisture availability, possibly rock salts for the roots to absorb and plant body shielding from some of the dangers associated with passing traffic of animals and people (Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Pooley, 1998; Reynolds, 1974; Jeppe, 1969; iNaturalist).