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Aloe macroclada - A robust stemless and solitary plant with rosettes of many 2- to 3-foot-long fleshy lanceolate green leaves that are held in a mostly upright fashion and flush a red-orange color, particularly along the margins, when drought stressed. Though we have yet to see it bloom, in winter it is known to produce flower well in California with an unusual unbranched vertical dense spikes to 6+ feet tall with sessile reddish orange buds that open first facing the sun with campanulate greenish yellow flowers that have prominent exserted red and orange stamens.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and give infrequent irrigation. It looks to be an interestingly attractive plant, a bit more like a spicate agave than a typical aloe. It looks to be an interestingly attractive plant, a bit more like a spicate agave than a typical aloe.
Aloe macroclada is one of the most widely distributed of the Madagascan aloes, growing through much of southern Madagascar between 2,300 and 5,000 feet on dry grassy mountain slopes that can burn annually. The specific epithet is from the Greek words 'makros', meaning "large" and 'klados' meaning "shoot" in reference to the large size of the plant. It has been used for centuries in Madagascar to treat a variety of ailments, including: Cardiovascular diseases, Hypertension, Pulmonary infections, Rheumatism, Asthenia, and Diabetes. Malagasy people traditionally believed that aloe macroclada could rejuvenate the body and increase lifespan.
Our plants from a distribution in 2008 from the Institute for Aloe Studies as Aloe macroclada IAS08-017 2008. We sold very few and only have the one plant we have retained in our reference collection.
The information displayed on this page about Aloe macroclada 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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