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Aloe hildebrandtii (Hildebrandt's Aloe) - A low growing sprawling shrub aloe to 2 to 3 feet tall and growing a bit wider, branching at the base with stems at first erect and then sprawling out to 4 feet long and holding loose 1 foot wide rosettes of up to 20 leaves that are up to 1 foot long by an inch or a bit more wide. These leaves are a pale to medium green color with scattered white spots and sharp triangular reddish-brown teeth along the leaf margins. Primarily flowering from spring to early fall, large mature plants can seemingly be in bloom year-round with nearly 2 foot long well branched inflorescences terminating in racemes of well-spaced cylindrical yellow flowers that are slightly swollen near the base and green tipped at the apex. The flowers have been likened to the look of small bananas.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil. Only reliably hardy to around 26-27°F so best in near frost-free locations but it is drought and heat tolerant even in the low desert. This is a good plant to have rambling over the edge of a raised planter, on a slope or mixed with other succulents in a large hanging basket. It is sometimes compared to Aloe arborescens, but it is a considerably smaller plant that is typically later blooming with longer lasting yellow flowers and shorter but thicker leaves that are not recurved or noticeably toothed. Its leaves are also known to contain the poisonous compound dihydroisocoumarin glycoside.
Aloe hildebrandtii comes from Somalia in east tropical Africa where it is primarily found along the highest portion of the in northern Somali escarpment from Ga'an Libah east to the Geldora Pass, growing at 4,000 to 6,000 feet in elevation, mainly on limestone soils with junipers, pistache and boxwoods. The specific epithet honors the German explorer Johann Maria Hildebrandt, whose explorations between 1872 and 1881 into the little-known Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya interior, contributed much to the knowledge of this area. Hildebrandt had previously also worked as a gardener at the Berlin Botanical Garden. Our stock plants of this species were received in 2020 from John Miller at the Institute of Aloe Studies who told us his plants had been grown from a John Lavranos collection. The pictures on this page were taken of a plant growing on the grounds of Pitzer College in Claremont, California.
The information displayed on this page about Aloe hildebrandtii is based on the research we conducted about it in our nursery horticultural library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include some of our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops 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 additional information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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