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Aloe maculata 'Jack-O-Lantern' (Orange Soap Aloe) - A stemless plant that grows to 1 foot tall and 2 feet wide and suckers freely to form a good-sized clump. The foliage is dark green at the tips with a reddish blush, while closer to the leaf base the color fades to a light green and is marked by faint white spots and the margins of the leaves are lined with brown teeth. The flowers on this selection are pumpkin orange instead of the more salmon-orange color of the typical form and tend to flower later so that flowers are present in late summer and fall - as with the typical form, the flowers are held in capitate heads on a branched inflorescence over a long period.
Plant in a well-drained soil in full sun where foliage color and flowering is best but grows well in part sun too. This drought tolerant plant needs little irrigation. Hardy to about 20 degrees F.
The species was long called Aloe saponaria, a name based on the use of this plant for soap in its native South Africa. The current epithet 'maculata' meaning "spotted" is in reference to the white spots on the leaves. In "Aloes: The Definitive Guide" it is noted that the type locality of this wide-spread species is not known but it can be found growing in grasslands, scrub vegetation and rocky outcroppings from near the coast up into the Drakensberg Mountains from the Cape Peninsula east through the Cape Provinces into KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. For more information about the species see our listing of for Aloe maculata.
This information about Aloe maculata 'Jack-O-Lantern' 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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