Kingdom Plantae Family Asphodelaceae Scientific name Kumara | Order Asparagales Subfamily Asphodeloideae Rank Genus | |
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Similar Aloiampelos, Aloe haemanthifolia, Tree aloes, Aloe plicatilis, Gasteria glauca | ||
Kumara is a proposed genus of two species of flowering plants in the subfamily Asphodeloideae, native to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
Contents
Separation from Aloe genus
Phylogenetic studies indicated that two species that were traditionally classed as members of the Aloe genus were genetically distinct and comprised an entirely separate clade. The species were accordingly split off as a separate genus, given the name that it had previously held, "Kumara".
Species
Both species have a unique distichous ("fan") arrangement to their grey, strap-shaped leaves. Both are also indigenous to roughly the same range of mountains in the south-western corner of the Western Cape, South Africa, however the tall tree-like Kumara plicatilis is found on the lower slopes of the mountains, while the tiny stemless Kumara haemanthifolia inhabits the high peaks.