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Aloe maculata 'Jack-O-Lantern' (Orange Soap Aloe) - A stemless plant that grows to 1 foot tall and 2 feet wide and suckers freely to form a good-sized clump. The foliage is dark green at the tips with a reddish blush, while closer to the leaf base the color fades to a light green and is marked by faint white spots and the margins of the leaves are lined with brown teeth. The flowers on this selection are pumpkin orange instead of the more salmon-orange color of the typical form and tend to flower later so that flowers are present in late summer and fall - as with the typical form, the flowers are held in capitate heads on a branched inflorescence over a long period.
Plant in a well-drained soil in full sun where foliage color and flowering is best but grows well in part sun too. This drought tolerant plant needs little irrigation. Hardy to about 20 degrees F.
The species was long called Aloe saponaria, a name based on the use of this plant for soap in its native South Africa. The current epithet 'maculata' meaning "spotted" is in reference to the white spots on the leaves. In "Aloes: The Definitive Guide" it is noted that the type locality of this wide-spread species is not known but it can be found growing in grasslands, scrub vegetation and rocky outcroppings from near the coast up into the Drakensberg Mountains from the Cape Peninsula east through the Cape Provinces into KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. For more information about the species see our listing of for Aloe maculata.
The information displayed on this page about Aloe maculata 'Jack-O-Lantern' is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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