Aloe pearsonii yellow flowers

Aloe pearsonii has multiple erect stems of up to 2 m in height. Each is covered in a cloak of four or five neatly arranged vertical ranks of triangular leaves that point downwards (are deflexed). The plant chemistry and leaf appearance associate this species with the grouping of creeping aloes, although other writers classify it with the multi-stemmed ones.

The outer three perianth segments of each flower are free from the middle. Their tips spread slightly. The inner segments are free from each other, but attached to the outer ones on their backs.

A. pearsonii is endemic to an extremely hot and arid climate in a limited part of the Richtersveld and an adjacent area in Namibian just north of the Gariep. Large stands of these aloes still occur in habitat, blooming spectacularly in summer, but climate change is said to have a recently increasing effect. Panicles of yellow or red flowers as well as some in shades between red and yellow adorn the parched countryside. The perianths on the short racemes are long, narrow and pendulous (Frandsen, 2017; Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Reynolds, 1974; Jeppe, 1969; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).