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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Aloeaceae (now Asphodeloideae) |
| Origin: Kenya (Africa) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Yellow & Orange |
| Bloomtime: Winter |
| Height: 2-3 feet |
| Width: 1-2 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F |
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Aloe morijensis - Upright shrub with stems suckering from the base and rising vertically 3 feet tall with short plump lime green flat to slightly channeled leaves that turn reddish in full sun and have small white teeth. The stems are topped by a small 4 inch wide rosette with persistent leaves held perpendicularly scattered a foot or more down the stems. Plants in the shade stretch taller and the leaves are narrower. In fall appear the branched inflorescences of red-orange flower buds that open to reveal orange-yellow flowers – some note this plant flowering in spring but our clone has consistently flowered in fall. Plant in full sun in a well drained soil and irrigate occasionally to infrequently. Hardy to around 28°F. An interesting and attractive aloe that like its relatives, the smaller Aloe juvenna and larger Aloe fibrosa, have fibrous sheathing leaf bases. It also somewhat resembles the larger Aloe kedongensis and early research on the shrubby aloes of Kenya indicated that the tetraploid shrub species Aloe kedongensis and Aloe nyeriensis may have evolved from the diploid Aloe morijensis, though later research disputes this notion ("A. M. Uleh , L. E. Newton , P. K. Mbuga and G. W. Gatheri "On the Ancestry of the Tetraploid Shrubby Aloes in Kenya" Haseltonia 21 :56-59. 2015). Aloe morijensis comes from the Rift Valley escarpment in south-west Kenya and northern Tanzania where it grows on rocky grassy slopes at around 8,200 feet in elevation. The name morijensis is from the type locality north of Morijo in Narok County, Kenya. Our plants from Santa Barbara cycad grower Jeff Chemnick who got his plant from succulent plantsman Kent Houser of San Diego and thought at that time to be Aloe fibrosa.
This information is based on research conducted about this plant in our nursery library and from reliable online sources. We also take into consideration observations of it in our nursery of crops, as well as of plants growing in the nursery's garden and those in other gardens we have visited. We will incorporate comments received from others and welcome getting feedback from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if it includes cultural information that would aid others in growing Aloe morijensis. |
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