Astroloba foliolosa

Astroloba foliolosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Xanthorrhoeaceae
Subfamily:	Asphodeloideae
Genus:	Astroloba
Species:	A. foliolosa
Binomial name
Astroloba foliolosa (Haw.) Uitewaal

Astroloba foliolosa is a small succulent plant of the Astroloba genus, indigenous to the southern Cape regions of South Africa.

Description

Astroloba foliolosa is a very variable Astroloba species. Typically it has slender stems that are densely covered in rounded triangular leaves, which sometimes grow in a rough spiral. The smooth, glossy, grey-green leaves curve upwards and outwards. It produces cream-white flowers, tinged with green.

Its close relative Astroloba congesta, whose smaller range lies just to the east, is sometimes included as a shorter subspecies of A.foliolosa, with duller, smoother, more horizontal leaves.^[1]

Distribution

This species is relatively widely distributed across the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces, South Africa. It also extends slightly into the Northern Cape.

It occurs as far west as Laingsburg, and eastwards through Graaff Reinet towards Albany and Cradock.^[2][3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Astroloba foliolosa.

References