Aloe kraussii

Aloe kraussii is a KwaZulu-Natal grass aloe that flowers conspicuously in the grass from late spring through summer. Forestry has made the sight less common, and so did the Australian invaders, black wattle and silver wattle.

The species is traditionally associated with A. ecklonis, another grass aloe with even wider leaves and longer, sometimes orange, red or pink flowers. The two species were even at one stage merged, but no longer.

The flowering of A. kraussii and A. boylei overlap in late December in the same terrain (particularly near Greytown), where they are both pollinated by black sunbirds, but little hybridisation results. Honeybees are also keen on the flowers of this aloe.

A. kraussii often grows in mistbelt grassy places. The plant sprouts leaves with first spring rain, grows in summer and its bloom season peaks at the end of December to early January. Seeds are ripe late in February when strong sunlight often dries the fruit capsules, unless the mistbelt effect is strong. Then seed dispersal happens later. The capsules duly split and the seeds are distributed by wind or carried by rainwater. Winter grass fire helps the cycle to repeat (Craib, 2005; Pooley, 1998; Reynolds, 1974; iNaturalist).