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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Aloeaceae (now Asphodeloideae) |
| Origin: Kenya (Africa) |
| Flower Color: Orange |
| Bloomtime: Spring/Summer |
| Synonyms: (A. nyeriensis ssp. kedongensis) |
| Height: 6-8 feet |
| Width: 4-5 feet |
| Exposure: Sun or Shade |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F |
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Aloe kedongensis (Kenyan Aloe) - This is a upright-growing succulent that forms a solid mass with multiple stems reaching 4-8+ feet high topped with rosettes of bright green lightly spotted foliage that typically are narrow, less than 1 foot long and recurve slightly and having stems lie over so the plant spreads laterally to form large clumps. The salmon-orange flowers appear in unbranched or few branched spikes, typically in late winter and spring. Plant in full sun to light shade and irrigate only occasionally. Hardy to 25°. Aloe kedongensis grows within dense bushlands on rocky soil in the Kedong Valley and near Nakuru within the Great Rift Valley of Kenya. The Rift Valley is an intra-continental ridge system that runs through Kenya from north to south. The specific epithet refers to this plant being from the Kedong Valley, which was the site of an tragic massacre in 1895 involving tribal Swahili and Maasai with misinterpreted intervention by the British Army. This plant was first described by Gilbert Westacott Reynolds (1895-1967) in the Journal of South African Botany (v19 n4) in 1953. Aloe kedongensis is one of a group of closely related tetraploid aloes that all grow near each other in East Africa and share a recent common ancestor. The other aloes in this group are Aloe cheranganiensis, Aloe dawei, Aloe elgonica, and Aloe nyeriensis (often synonymized with Aloe ngobitensis). We have sold this great landscape aloe since 2006 and first became interested in this plant after seeing it used in old Santa Barbra gardens as a low barrier or hedge plant. We received our first cuttings of Aloe kedongensis in 2005 from Brian Kemble of the Ruth Bancroft Garden.
The information on this page is based on the research that we have conducted about this plant in the San Marcos Growers library, from what we have found on reliable online sources, as well as from observations made of our crops of this plant growing in the nursery and of plants growing in the nursery's garden and those in other gardens where we may have observed it. We also have incorporated comments received from others and welcome getting feedback from those who may have additional information, particularly if this information includes cultural information that would aid others in growing Aloe kedongensis. |
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