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Aloe hildebrandtii "Orange Flowering Form" (Hildebrandt's Aloe) - A low growing sprawling shrub allow to 2 to 3 feet tall and growing a bit wider, branching at the base with sprawling stems to 4 feet long 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 and 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 red-orange flowers that are slightly swollen near the base and green tipped at the apex.
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 smaller plant that is longer and typically later blooming and with 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 taxa are from the Institute for Aloe Studies (IAS) received in 2018 as Aloe hildebrandtii 2018-15 that was grown from seed received by the IAS from Aloe grower Geoff Etherington of New Zealand. We also grow the more typical yellow flowering form and list it as Aloe hildebrandtii. We also have in our collection the red form of this species also received from the Institute for Aloe Studies as IAS 17-009c.
Information displayed on this page about Aloe hildebrandtii "Orange Flower Form" is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will 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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