Aloe helenae

Aloe helenae is a tree-like succulent plant of the genus Aloe that is endemic to Madagascar, where it is listed as endangered. In the wild it grows to about four metres tall, with a trunk topped by a rosette of channeled, recurved leaves that are usually green but may take on red tones in bright light or under drought stress. It does not usually produce offsets in the wild, although it is known to do so in cultivation. The inflorescence is made of racemes, each under 30 centimetres long, with red flower buds that open to pale yellow petals. Paul Auguste Danguy first described the species in 1929, and its specific epithet honours Helen Decary, wife of Raymond Decary, who was the first to describe a number of Madagascan succulents. It is known only from a few small populations in the former Toliara Province in the southwest of the island, where it grows in spiny forest on sandy soils. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists it as endangered.