Aloe suprafoliata young leaf arrangement

The book aloe looks of Aloe suprafoliata last in the flat fan form until the leaves become rearranged in a radially symmetrical rosette form. The specific name, suprafoliata, is derived from the Latin words supra meaning above and folium meaning leaf, referring to the distinctive young plant characteristic of earliest leaves being distichous, meaning two vertical ranks of opposite leaves, a bit like the leaves of a book. They only spiral into a rosette in mature plants after some years (Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Pooley, 1998; Reynolds, 1974; Jeppe, 1969; iNaturalist).