| Aloe tenuior | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| clade: | Angiosperms |
| clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Xanthorrhoeaceae |
| Subfamily: | Asphodeloideae |
| Genus: | Aloe |
| Species: | A. tenuior |
| Binomial name | |
| Aloe tenuior Lam. |
|
Aloe tenuior (or the Fence Aloe) is a bushy, multi-branched climbing aloe from the grasslands and thickets of the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu Natal and Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is one of the most profusely flowering of all aloes.[1]
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Locally, this plant is known as iKhalene in Xhosa, inTelezi in Fengu, and simply the fence aloe in English. The specific epithet tenuior means "very slender", and refers to the plant's stems.[2]
A medium-sized, bushy aloe that forms clumps up to 3 m tall, with leaves tufted at the ends of branches. The leaves have a distinctive greyish-green colour and the leaf margins have tiny white teeth. These leaves are a traditional remedy for tapeworm. An unusually large, woody rootstock usually forms on the ground at the base of the plant.
Like all climbing aloes, flowers are borne on slender racemes and are usually bright yellow (although the rubriflora variety's flowers are red). Aloe tenuior flowers throughout the year, but especially in winter, and the small flowers appear on thin, un-branched racemes. [3]
Aloe tenuior is part of a group of similar Southern African climbing aloes, called the Macrifoliae Aloes. Also included in this group are its relatives Aloe gracilis (which occurs to the west around Port Elizabeth), Aloe striatula (found to the north on the higher mountain slopes), and Aloe decumbens, Aloe juddii and Aloe commixta which occur only in isolated pockets in the Western Cape fynbos. However, it can be distinguished from its relatives by its thin, greyish, non-recurved leaves.[4]
Aloe tenuior is an extremely variable species.
In addition to the most common variety (Aloe tenuior tenuior), there are also several extremely rare subspecies of this aloe - such as the Dense-flowered Fence Aloe (Aloe tenuior densiflora) and the Green-leaf Fence Aloe (Aloe tenuior viridifolia). These are confined to very small natural ranges along South Africa's subtropical coast.