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Aloe fievetii (Fievet's Aloe) - A stemless or short stemmed plant that offsets sparingly, forming a rosette of 12-16 inch long narrow lanceolate red tinged green leaves that are erect then spreading with a dentate tip and reddish teeth. In late fall to early and mid-winter appear the unbranched or once branched inflorescence, rising above the leaves to nearly 2 feet tall, bearing bicolored candy corn flowers in capitate heads, with orange buds that open to display bright yellow flowers. Unlike Aloe capitata, which grows in the same region, this plant's flowers open from the bottom of the inflorescence first and then proceed to open upwards while Aloe capitata does the reverse. The leaves of this species are also narrower and more channeled than Aloe capitata.
There is little information about the cultural needs of this plant but based on its natural habitat and plants that grow with it we recommend planting it in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigating occasionally to very little. It should be hardy into the high 20°Fs and quite possibly less. It is a very attractive aloe that has become one of our favorite smaller plants that reliably blooms November into January in our climate with its good looking foliage holding attractive orange and yellow flowers.
Aloe fievetii has a restricted natural range found only close to its type locality near the village of Andomaranomaitso, 30 kilometers northwest Fianarantsoa, where it grows on granite rocks at around 4,000 feet in elevation. The species was named in 1965 by Gilbert Westacott Reynolds to honor Mr. Gerard Fievet, who first discovered the plant. Our plants received from the Institute for Aloe Studies in their 2009 distribution as Aloe fievetii IAS09-015.
The information displayed on this page about Aloe fievetii is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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