International Succulent Introductions

Aloe excelsa Berger

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ISI 2003-16. Aloe excelsa Berger.

This species is one of the tree-like aloes, bearing a solitary rosette to four or five feet in diameter atop a trunk to 10' or more and, as the epithet implies, it towers over surrounding vegetation. It is also one of those that bear prickles on the leaf surface, as in A. marlothii and A. spectabilis, especially on the lower leaf surface on younger plants. The inflorescence is a showy candelabra with short compact racemes, the lower ones obliquely angled away from the erect upper ones. They bear bright red-orange flowers, providing excellent late winter color. HBG 89152, plants grown from seed collected Oct., 1997, by M. Kimberley on Matibi No. 1 communal land, about 400 km. S of Harare, Zimbabwe. $5.