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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Aloeaceae (now Asphodeloideae) |
| Origin: Arabian Peninsula (Asia) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Red/Purple Foliage: Yes |
| Flower Color: Red |
| Bloomtime: Spring/Summer |
| Height: 2-3 feet |
| Width: 4-6 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 20-25° F |
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Aloe pseudorubroviolacea (Arabian Aloe) A beautiful plant with 2 foot wide rosettes of thick, blue-green leaves that emerge from heavy stems and 3 to four foot tall inflorescences of orange-red flowers late winter into spring. Over time the stems elongate with a few shoots emerging at their base, forming open sprawling clumps to 12 feet wide by 3 feet tall - if planted on a slope will tend to spread downhill. In winter, the foliage takes on pink tones much like Aloe rubroviolacea, whose specific epithet 'rubraviolacea' means "red-violet" but this species differs in having larger rosettes that produce fewer offsets and more heavily branched inflorescences that appear later. A. rubroviolacea, often with an unbranched or once-branched inflorescence, begins flowering in late fall and continues into winter. This species, usually with a many-branched inflorescence, starts flowering in late winter and continues into early spring in habitat but growers in California find it to bloom even later, often into summer. Both species have 1 inch long waxy orange-red flowers but for this species the flowers are more dramatically compressed downward along the inflorescence branch. This plant is also closely related to Aloe porphyrostachys. Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil - in its natural habitat this plant grows pendant or semi-pendant on steep slopes but can tolerate level ground if soil is well draining. We have not tested this plant to colder temperatures but it is reportedly hardy down to 25° F. Protect from snails which can disfigure the attractive leaves. This aloe is restricted to high mountains and cliff faces between 6000 to 7000 feet in elevation that overlook the coastal plain of the Red Sea in the provinces of Hijaz and Asir of Saudi Arabia from near the border with Yemen to north of Yanbu al-Bahr. It was first described by John Lavranos & I.S. (Sheila) Collenette in 2000 in the Cactus and Succulent Society of America Journal 72(1) and is described in "Aloes: The Definitive Guide" (Kew Publishing, 2011) as "undoubtedly the most spectacular of Arabian aloes". Our plants originally from Tim Gregory.
Information displayed on this page about Aloe pseudorubroviolacea is based on the research conducted about it in our library and from reliable online resources. We also note those observations we have made of this plant as it grows in the nursery's garden and in other gardens, as well how crops have performed in our nursery field. We will incorporate comments we receive from others, and welcome to hear from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if they share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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