Aloe chabaudii var. chabaudii

Aloe chabaudii var. chabaudii is mostly stemless or shorth-stemmed, suckering to form groups of leaf rosettes.

The H-shaped leaf spots common on young plants become fewer or disappear on mature specimens. Plants growing in shade have greener leaves than those in full sunlight that are likely to acquire a red to pale purplish colour. 

This is the only variety of A. chabaudii that occurs naturally in South Africa, as well as in some neighbouring countries. The plants grow in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

The habitat is warm bushveld and grassland from sea level to elevations about 1700 m. The plants often found in shallow sandy or clayey soils among large rocks and granitic hills. The variety is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century.

Different red and yellow flower colours occur in some Malawian, Zimbabwean and other southern and central African varieties of this Aloe.

The plants do not fare well in frost conditions (Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Jeppe, 1969; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).