Aloe grandidentata

Aloe grandidentata, sometimes commonly called soup aloe and in Afrikaans kleinbontaalwyn (small multicoloured aloe), is one of the spotted aloes or maculate aloes that occur widespread in the South African dry interior. The plant is stemless or nearly so, growing solitary or naturally formed dense colonies of ground level leaf rosettes. This is achieved by growing underground stolons or suckers that spread laterally.

The inflorescence branches into four to seven racemes. The flowers are dull red, flesh coloured or pink and sparsely spread upon the panicle. This maculate aloe is unusual because its flowers (perianths) are club-shaped (clavate). This means that the individual flower or perianth tube is larger at the tip than at the base. With inflorescence present the plant is from 75 cm to 1 m tall. Flowering happens from late winter to after midspring.

The species distribution is inland up the centre of South Africa, from the north of the Eastern Cape through the east of the Northern Cape and the west of the Free State to North West and Botswana.

The habitat is rocky outcrops in Nama Karoo shrubland and Kalahari thornveld where the rainfall is low. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century.

The plant is a common garden subject and grows well in cultivation. It copes with some frost (Smith, et al, 2017; Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Jeppe, 1969; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).