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Aloe khamiesensis (Namaqua Aloe) - A mostly single-stemmed or sparling branched slow-growing small tree aloe that holds its rosettes up on stems to 10 feet tall with 16 inch long and 3 inch wide pale green colored leaves that curve upwards toward the base, then slightly downwards toward the tips. The leaf surfaces are decorated with small white spots and reddish teeth along the leaf margins. The flowers, which appear in mid-winter, are held in the top third of a well-branched conically shaped raceme that terminates in erect clusters of orange-red yellow-tipped flowers.
Plant in full sun and irrigate little, if at all, in summer as it is from a winter rainfall area and noted as being finicky in cultivation. There is not a good frost hardiness data on this plant, but older specimens can be found in southern California, and it is likely this plant can handle at least infrequent temperatures down to 25 F. It is an attractive smaller tree aloe that grows well in our summer dry gardens.
Aloe khamiesensis has a restricted distribution in the mountainous areas of Namaqualand and from near Calvinia in the Northern Cape of South Africa. 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 refers to the Khamiesberg and Khamieskroon locations where this aloe was originally collected. Other common names for this plant include Tweederly, Aloeboom (meaning Aloe Tree) and Wilde-aalwyn (meaning Wild Aloe). Our plants from seed from Namaqualand received from Brian Kemble of the Ruth Bancroft Garden in 2009. We offered this plant for sale in our nursery until 2021 and while we still have a nice specimen growing in the ground, it proved more difficult to keep nice looking in container s and we discontinued growing it. Images in habitat courtesy of Ernst van Jaarsveld and the Institute for Aloe Studies.
This information about Aloe khamiesensis 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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