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Aloe comptonii (Red Mitre Aloe) - A relatively slow growing sprawling aloe with thick long ground creeping branching stems, ultimately up to 6 feet long, that have upturned rosettes of thick fleshy light blue-green colored wedge-shaped foot long leaves with soft white teeth that darken to yellow and then brown as they age. In summer months appear the red flowers in capitate heads on a branched inflorescence that rises 2 feet above the leaves.
Plant in full sun to light shade. Best in cooler coastal climates where it requires little or only occasional irrigation. This plant is drought tolerant and fire-retardant and frost hardy to the low 20's° F.
Aloe comptonii is native to near Uniondale and Willowmore in the Cape Province of South Africa where is grows on open rocky ground. It is the most robust and slowest growing of the plant varieties or subspecies once included with Aloe perfoliata, Aloe distans or Aloe mitriformis. A bit like the more common plant in cultivation, Aloe distans, in that it sprawls horizontal over open ground but Aloe comptonii is much slower growing with larger rosettes of greener leaves and darker redder flowers.
Aloe comptonii is included with Aloe perfoliata by some but we note many sources continue to list this plant as its own species. Like Aloe distans, Aloe comptonii is sometimes included as a subspecies of Aloe mitriformis or more recently all are lumped into Aloe perfoliata. This confusion of names is discussed in the great reference book Aloe: The Definitive Guide, with it being listed there as Aloe comptonii but within the listing of Aloe mitriformis and with the authors expressing some reservations about it being included with Aloe perfoliata. The specific epithet honors Professor R.H. Compton, the Director of the National Botanic Garden Kirstenbosch in 1950 when Gilbert Westacott Reynolds described it as a species in Aloes of South Africa.
The information displayed on this page about Aloe comptonii 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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