Aloe glauca

Aloe glauca, in Afrikaans commonly known as the blouaalwyn (blue aloe), is a stemless or short-stemmed leaf succulent that often branches sparingly from near the base, reaching heights of 90 cm to 1,35 m.

The species distribution is in the west of South Africa from the southern Cape coast in the Western Cape to Namaqualand in the Northern Cape. There are discrete sub-distributions with large discontinuities between populations that do not quite grade into each other. This causes different forms of the plant to be found, previously varieties that are no longer upheld. The photos shown here are of plants seen at Naries in Namaqualand, west of Springbok.

These plants grow in stony and rocky places on hills and mountains in the arid parts of the winter rainfall area. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Reynolds, 1974; Jeppe, 1969; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).