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Aloe albiflora (White-flowered Aloe) A small stemless aloe that suckers to form small clumps with rosettes of up to 10 narrow dark gray green 6 inch long leaves that have a rough texture, are liberally white spotted and with narrow cartilaginous margins fringed with tiny white teeth. In greenhouse and warm winter climates it can bloom freely throughout the year but typically it flowers in the fall when an unbranched inflorescence rises 12 to 18 inches with the terminal 4 inches holding half inch wide bell shaped translucent white flowers that have slightly reflexed petals with a green central stipe on the underside and a blush of pink near the base, particularly in the unopened buds. A second or third inflorescence often follows the first, so long as a frost doesn't knock it down.
Plant in a well-drained soil in full to part sun and irrigate occasionally to infrequently. Is hardy to light frosts and foliage is hardy to 25°F but best in near frost-free locations so flowers are not harmed. A nice potted plant specimen or in a rock or succulent garden close to a path where the unusual flowers can be enjoyed. While our plants have the typical foliage and short broad white flowers of the species, they show more of a blush of orange-pink in the buds and emerging flowers than is typical and some believe it might be a Aloe albiflora hybrid while others insist such differences are within the range of variability of the species.
Aloe albiflora was first collected east of the town of Tsivory in the Toliara (formally Tuléar) Province of southern Madagascar and this plant was described from the plant collected in 1940 by the French botanist André Guillaumin, deputy director of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris. In 1956 André Daniel Marcel Bertrand, a French horticultural author writing in Cactus Francais noted that the flowers of this species were much more lily-like than the flowers of other Madagascan species of aloe and proposed that the plant be placed in its own genus as Guillauminia albiflora. Two years later, Gilbert Westacott Reynolds author of The Aloes of Tropical Africa and Madagascar (1966) and Aloes of South Africa (1950), wrote that he found no compelling reason for this name change and reaffirmed the plant as an aloe in his Les Aloes de Madagascar (1958).
Aloe albiflora was introduced into cultivation from Guillaumin's plant distributed by Reynolds and Professor Jacques Millot, Director of the Institut de Recherche Scientifique Madagascar. It is now widely cultivated but has never been found again at the type locality and is now presumed to be extinct in the wild. When not in flower it can be mistaken for Aloe bellatula or Aloe parvula, but according to Aloe: The Difinitive Guide, it is more closely related to the larger pink flowering Aloe perieri. 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 and the specific epithet means white flowered. Our original stock plant came to us from Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) past president Gregg DeChirico in 2016.
The information about Aloe albiflora displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include 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 we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |
