Aloe africana

Aloe africana, known as the Uitenhage aloe, is a tree-like aloe native to the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, where it is centred on the area around Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage. It grows slowly and flowers when it is four to five years old, from winter to early spring. The large raceme stands erect, is unbranched or has up to four branches, and carries tubular orange or yellow flowers that each turn upward and bend to almost 90 degrees, a feature that helps tell it from similar aloes such as Aloe excelsa, Aloe lineata and Aloe ferox. Its thin grey-green leaves are narrow and recurved, armed with small reddish teeth, and form a dense but untidy rosette at the top of the stem. It grows mainly on hills and flats in thicket and renosterveld, often alongside Aloe ferox, Aloe pluridens and Aloe speciosa, and hybrids are not uncommon. The climate is moderate and frost free, with 600 to 700 millimetres of rain spread through the year.