Aloe kouebokkeveldensis

Aloe kouebokkeveldensis is a recent discovery, known since around 2002. It is a decumbent or erect plant that grows a solitary leaf rosette or few of them in a group. 

The species is range-restricted in the Western Cape, an area of ravines near the Thee River in the Koue Bokkeveld Mountains north of Tulbagh. This specimen was seen in Kirstenbosch where seedlings have been propagated successfully, maybe also available to the public.

A cliff dweller in crevices on south-west facing, sandstone slopes of high, inaccessible mountains, the plants should be relatively safe. The species is rare, known only from the protected area of the Groot Winterhoek Mountain Catchment Reserve and the population thus stable in habitat early in the twenty first century.

The presence of San paintings in caves and overhangs of the area makes the “discovery” a rediscovery. It raises the question of possible early human uses of the plant, the Aloe genus being so important in ethnic botany and traditional medicine (Frandsen, 2017; Low and Uschi, Veld & Flora, March 2006; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).