Aloe bulbillifera

[GreekDesert]

Aloe bulbillifera but which var. ?

[Geoff]

This is a somewhat unusual Madagascan species that is fairly common in cultivation. It is a mostly solitary, stemless plant with a flattened or even drooping rosette about 3' in diameter, with soft, bendable leaves with large, pronounced teeth along the margins (almosty as if cut out with pinking sheers). leaves are a pale green to blue green or even orangish if stressed. Flowers are on very tall, branched, very open inflorescences and are scarlet to red-orange in winter. What makes this plant unusual, as the name suggests, is the flowers then develop into bulbils, similar to what happens in many Gasteria, Gasteraloes and Agaves/Furcraeas. As far as I know, this is the only species of Aloe that does this routinely (sometimes a weird thing will happen and another species will make one, but not normally). I have tried, but the bulbils are not that easy to start as new plants, but obviously it can be done. Bulbils form in spring.

Aloe bulbilifera var bulbilifera with bulbils June LL.jpg (162.53 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbillefera v bulbilleferas H.jpg (109.14 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

my own plant

Aloe bulbolifera p3 OK 2-07.jpg (120.96 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbolifera in bloom H.jpg (187.05 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbillifera in flower.jpg (134.55 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbolifera paulinae larb plant in flower.jpg (160.49 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbillifera var bulbillifera Hunt flo feb Madagas.jpg (210.94 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

aloe bulbilifera flowers.jpg (149.97 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbolifera flowers larb.jpg (97.61 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbillifera var bulbillifera bulbil feb.jpg (34.31 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbillifera var bulbillifera bulbils maturing.jpg (75.78 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbolifera bulbils.jpg (128.09 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbulifera bulbils 7-09.jpg (53.93 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbolifera paulownia leaf detail.jpg (63.51 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

There is a variety, paulianae. which forms its bulbils along the main flower axis, not the side branches as the 'type' species is supposed to do. I have not noticed too many differences when I see these in cultivation, unless every botanical garden has their identifications wrong and they only have var. paulianae, as I usually see bulbils along all the plants main axis.

This plant is a weird one, identified by the Los Angeles arboretum as Aloe bulbilifera var. paulianae... only it is 3x the size, if not even more so, than any of the other plants I have grown are seen.. it certainly does not fit the size description Lavranos guide to Aloes... but it does otherwise sort of fit the picture. I include these photos below for discussion sake.

Aloe bulbolifera paulinae larb plant in flower.jpg (160.49 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbilifera leaves larb.jpg (118.29 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbolifera maybe larb.jpg (147.79 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbolifera again wtih large bulbil.jpg (155.09 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

Aloe bulbolifera bulbil maybe huge larb.jpg (111.46 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

[zpunout]

The label next to this aloe is spelt "bulbifera". I assume it's the same.
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[Jkwinston]

Geoff, I have succeeded in my first attempt to root one of these bulbils. To put it bluntly, all you need is patience. You have to leave the bulbil in a humid environment for a while (sometimes spraying with water), so that it can develop nodes which come easily in other plants. As soon as the nodes appear, only then do your place them in damp soil. It took around six weeks, and the longest tme was the node development. Jkw

RHS

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Collection

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[mickthecactus]

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[mickthecactus]

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[mickthecactus]

The flower stalk has now dried up and the plantlets matured ready to be rooted up.
Incidentally the plant has great provenance coming from Kew Gardens with the original plant collected in the ‘60’s in Malagasy by Werner Rauh.

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[mickthecactus]

Just tidied up today

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