Aloe helenae

[Geoff]

Nice tree aloe from Madagascar, still quite rare in cultivation and one frequently sought after. Though this is a solitary tree aloe, somehow 'suckers' of it are often sold off (I have one)... so obviously it does sucker sometimes. Looks a look like many of the other tree aloes- solitary stemmed with retained leaves, long, deeply channeled leaves... but flowers unique... very short stalked, multiple-branched inflorescence with densely flowered, columnar, short racemes of bright red flowers turning to yellow as they open, giving them the appearance of a bottle brush.. Have never seen one flower in person.

private garden, Thousand Oaks, CA

Aloe helenaes.JPG (138.32 KiB) Viewed 3628 times

Aloe helenae 10-13.jpg (123.74 KiB) Viewed 3628 times

[Geoff]

Aloe helenae Jeff.jpg (202.58 KiB) Viewed 3616 times

[Papang]

Aloe helenae in Reunion Island.

Pictures 1 and 2: flower hatched in August, in the middle of the austral «winter», 600 m of altitude (temperature never lower than 10 °C)

Picture 3: the whole plant (height = more than 2 meters) with its 'suckers' at the base of the trunk.

Picture 4: 'suckers' taken and potted. The color is due to weather conditions: strong sun at the zenith, prolonged drought. As soon as the rains return, the leaves turn green.

[Sorry for the automatic translation]

[Geoff]

thanks for the great photos!!