Kingdom Plantae Clade Monocots Family Asphodelaceae Rank Species | Clade Angiosperms Order Asparagales Subfamily Asphodeloideae | |
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Similar Aloe ciliaris, Aloe commixta, Aloe gracilis, Aloe arenicola, Aloe eminens | ||
Aloe tenuior (or the Fence Aloe) is a bushy, multi-branched climbing aloe from the grasslands and thickets of the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu Natal and Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is one of the most profusely flowering of all aloes.
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Description
Locally, this plant is known as iKhalene in Xhosa, inTelezi in Fengu, and simply the fence aloe in English. The specific epithet tenuior means "very slender", and refers to the plant's stems.
A medium-sized, bushy aloe that forms clumps up to 3 m tall, with leaves tufted at the ends of branches. The leaves have a distinctive greyish-green colour and the leaf margins have tiny white teeth. These leaves are a traditional remedy for tapeworm.
An unusually large, woody rootstock usually forms on the ground at the base of the plant.
Like all climbing aloes, flowers are borne on slender racemes and are usually bright yellow (although there are red-flowered forms, sometimes called var. rubriflora).
Aloe tenuior flowers throughout the year, but especially in winter, and the small flowers appear on thin, un-branched racemes.
Varieties
Aloe tenuior is an extremely variable species. The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) recognizes only two varieties:
Other additional varieties recognized by some sources, include:
The latter grouping are treated by WCSP as synonyms of A. tenuior var. tenuior.
Relatives
Aloe tenuior is part of a group of similar Southern African climbing aloes, called the Macrifoliae Aloes. Also included in this group are its relatives Aloe gracilis (which occurs to the west around Port Elizabeth), Aloe striatula (found to the north on the higher mountain slopes), and Aloe decumbens, Aloe juddii and Aloe commixta which occur only in isolated pockets in the Western Cape fynbos. However, it can be distinguished from its relatives by its thin, greyish, non-recurved leaves.