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Aloe 'Thorny Warrior' - An upright growing plant to 3 feet tall or more that suckers from the base to form a cluster of many robust rosettes of upwardly held 1-foot-long triangular shaped medium green leaves that have well-spaced large yellow upwardly hooked teeth along the margins with a couple on the keel of the lower surface. The large pale orange flowers are tightly held in the top 18 inches of the 3-foot tall unbranched or sparing branched upright inflorescence in the fall.
This plant is new to cultivation but based on its known parent, which inhabits arid conditions in northwest South Africa into Namibia, this plant will likely be best grown in full sun in a well-drained soil with occasional irrigation. Hardiness is not known but it has withstood temperatures down to 30° F without damage and likely will tolerate temperatures well below this.
Our plants are from seed collected by Nick Deinhart from a plant of Aloe melanacantha growing in cultivation. It was originally thought to be pure seed from self-pollination, but it quickly became clear that this plant was a hybrid, with speculation that it was a result of a cross with Aloe arborescens. The uniform seedlings produced robust plants with a nice form and beautiful flowers, and we continued producing it through vegetative propagation.
The name for this cultivar is one we came up with that references the parent plant Aloe melanacantha with the English translation of "thorny" for the Greek word 'acantha', from the nymph who scratched Apollos face and was then turned into an Acanthus plant. It is also a nod to Nick Deinhart whose name is of Old Germanic origin as one of the surnames derived from the male personal name "Degenhard" from 'degen' meaning "warrior" or "hero" and 'hard' meaning "brave" "hardy" or "strong". We grew this plant from 2013 to 2015.
The information about Aloe 'Thorny Warrior' that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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