Aloe fouriei

Aloe fouriei is a stemmed grass aloe that may be hard to differentiate from A. verecunda and A. vossi. It may even be an ecotype of A. verecunda. The flowers are also similar to those of A. nubigena, the leaves to those of A. cooperi. The short stem, unusual for a grass aloe, becomes up to 15 cm long.

The distichous leaves are long and slender, channelled but not keeled. The grass-green succulent blades have white spots on the lower surfaces and small teeth along the margins. Old dry leaves persist.

The plants grow and flower in summer, doing well after rain. They go into semi-dormancy during drought. The plants may thrive on frequent veld fires.

The species distribution is limited to parts of Limpopo, known in the Strydpoort Mountains south of Polokwane and at the provincial border with Mpumalanga in the Steelpoort area.

The habitat is dolomitic, montane bushveld slopes and rocky grassland where dolomite rock sheets are exposed. The plant is rare and range-restricted, considered near threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century, due to habitat loss and degradation.

This plant has been named and described fairly late, possibly in 1985. This may be the reason why collectors have not yet brought it into the horticultural market much (Craib, 2005; Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).