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Aloe confusa - A pendant sprawling aloe that forms a dense low plant to 2 feet tall by 4 to 6 feet across (with time to possibly twice this width!) with rooting stems laying along the ground holding persistent pale green 1 foot long by inch and a half wide lanceolate leaves that have firm light-colored teeth along a horny margin. The ends of the stems hold rosettes of such leaves that droop and curve back towards the ground, looking a bit like large green stylized mustaches. In early summer and often in winter into spring appear the sparsely branching inflorescences with short cylindrical racemes of yellow flowers that rise just above the foliage. There are also red-orange forms, which we have in our collection but this one we sell has yellow flowers.
Plant in a well-drained soil in full to part sun and give occasional to infrequent irrigation. It is hardy to short duration temperatures down to 25 °F. An interesting plant for the aloe collector that is best used in a large pot or a raised area where the stems can grow out and then downwards - great draping over a rock or a wall.
Aloe confusa comes from Tanzania where it grows around the base of Mount Kilimanjaro and in nearby border areas of Kenya where it is found growing along cliffs of deep gorges. It allied most closely to the larger orange flowering Aloe flexifolia that grows in the Usambara Mountains to the south near the Kenyan border. The name Aloe comes from ancient Greek name aloe that was derived from the Arabian word 'alloch' that was used to describe the plant or its juice that was used as medicine. The specific epithet was given to this taxon by the German botanist Adolph Engler in 1895 when he described the plant is from the Latin word meaning "confused" as when he named it the plant was apparently unknown. The sap of Aloe confusa is used in its native habitat for dying cloth. Our plants originated from a cutting off the specimen growing in the Ganna Walska Lotusland Aloe garden.
This information about Aloe confusa displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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