Kumara plicatilis

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Kumara plicatilis
Gardenology-IMG 5110 hunt10mar.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asphodelaceae
Subfamily: Asphodeloideae
Tribe: Aloeae
Genus: Kumara
Species:
K. plicatilis
Binomial name
Kumara plicatilis
(L.) G.D.Rowley [1]
Map of Fan Aloe A plicatilis in South Africa.png

Kumara plicatilis, formerly Aloe plicatilis, the fan-aloe, is a succulent plant endemic to a few mountains in the Fynbos ecoregion, of the Western Cape in South Africa. [2] The plant has an unusual and striking fan-like arrangement of its leaves. It may grow as a large multistemmed shrub or as a small tree. It is one of the two species in the genus Kumara . [3]

Contents

Name

Kumara plicatilis derives its common name fan-aloe from its former placement in the genus Aloe and the unusual distichous arrangement of its linear leaves. Its Latin scientific name plicatilis also means "folded" or "pleated", or possibly "foldable"; [4] it is in any case a misnomer because the leaves are nothing like plicate and do not fold. In the local Afrikaans language, Kumara plicatilis is commonly known as the waaier aalwyn (= 'fan aloe'). It is also called the kaapse kokerboom (= 'Cape quivertree') because of its resemblance to Aloidendron dichotomum . The resemblance lies mainly in its dichotomous branching habit, as it usually grows stems too short to be of much use for making quivers.

Description

Kumara plicatilis can grow to a height of 3–5 metres (10–16 ft) tall. The trunk has corky, fire-resistant bark and the branches fork into pairs without a central leader, a pattern known as "dichotomous" branching. The branches bear masses of succulent, oblong, tongue-shaped leaves arranged in 2 opposite rows in the shape of a fan. [2] To the imaginative, the leaf-heads look a bit like a mass of grey hands, raised in the air.

The leaves are grey-green in colour, about 300 mm long and 40 mm wide, and have tiny teeth along the margins that are noticeable only on close inspection. Kumara plicatilis shares the unusual distichous arrangement of its leaves with its tiny stemless sister-species Kumara haemanthifolia , which occupies the same small mountainous corner of the Western Cape in South Africa. [2]

At the end of winter (August to October) the plants appear to burst into flames as they suddenly produce masses of bright pink flowers.

Aloe plicatilis - Fan Aloe - leaf detail.JPG
Detail of the leaves
Aloe plicatilis - Fan Aloe - inflorescence detail 5.JPG
Detail of the flowers
Fan-aloes in their natural habitat in the Cape Mountains 1 Fan Aloe trees in Western Cape mountains - South Africa.jpg
Fan-aloes in their natural habitat in the Cape Mountains

Distribution

In the wild, Kumara plicatilis is confined to a tiny area in the Western Cape, between the town of Franschhoek and Elandskloof. Here it grows in well-drained, sandy, slightly acidic soil on steep, rocky, south-facing slopes. It also seems to have a very clumped distribution pattern, with seventeen different populations that are often separated from each other by over 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).

Its entire habitat lies within the fynbos biome, where it is the only tree aloe. The fynbos biome consists of dense Mediterranean-type vegetation and a climate of dry hot summers and cold wet winters. Few other related species (those in the tribe Aloeae) naturally occur in this corner of South Africa, the exceptions being the Fynbos aloe, Table Mountain's Aloiampelos commixta , and the fan-aloe's rare sister species Kumara haemanthifolia . [2]

Protected areas in which it occurs include the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, Limietberg Nature Reserve and Paardenberg Nature Reserve.

Conservation

The fan-aloe is threatened by a growing international horticulture trade, in which wild specimens are illegally collected and exported. It is not an endangered species, but is on the IUCN Red List and the National Red List of South African Plants as a Least concern species, until its population status is assessed for its risk of extinction based on its distribution and/or population status. [5]

Cultivation

Kumara plicatilis makes an attractive garden subject Aloe plicatilis 1.jpg
Kumara plicatilis makes an attractive garden subject

Kumara plicatilis is an attractive and interesting accent plant to have in a sunny garden. As such it is increasingly used as an ornamental plant for drought tolerant landscaping and rockeries. However it grows very slowly and consequently, outside of its natural habitat, it is often in danger of being overgrown, smothered and killed by faster growing plants in its vicinity. [2]

In cultivation in the UK, this plant must be grown under glass as it does not tolerate freezing temperatures. However, it may be placed on a sunny terrace during the summer months. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. [6]

Propagation

Fan-aloes are best propagated from cuttings (truncheons). These should be stems or branches, cut cleanly from the parent plant. After allowing the cutting to dry out (not in direct sunlight) for a week or two, plant it in well-drained soil in a reasonably sunny position - out of reach of competition from faster growing plants. In cultivation it should be grown in a soil medium with a pH of 5.5-6.5. [2]

Hybrid

It was reportedly hybridised with Gonialoe variegata by the horticulturalist Justus Corderoy, and the resulting hybrid (published as Aloe × corderoyi Berger) was cultivated at Kew Gardens and at La Mortola. [7] However, as the two parent species are now considered to belong to separate genera, the hybrid is currently designated an intergeneric hybrid of the new nothogenus ×Gonimara. [8] [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Aloe</i> Genus of succulent flowering plants

Aloe, also written Aloë, is a genus containing over 550 species of flowering succulent plants. The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Other species, such as Aloe ferox, are also cultivated or harvested from the wild for similar applications.

<i>Gonialoe variegata</i>

Gonialoe variegata, also known as tiger aloe and partridge-breasted aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae. It is an evergreen succulent perennial indigenous to South Africa and Namibia. It is common in cultivation.

<i>Aloe arborescens</i> Species of succulent

Aloe arborescens, the krantz aloe or candelabra aloe, is a species of flowering succulent perennial plant that belongs to the genus Aloe, which it shares with the well known and studied Aloe vera. The specific epithet arborescens means "tree-like". Aloe arborescens is valued by gardeners for its succulent green leaves, large vibrantly-colored flowers, winter blooming, and attraction for birds, bees, and butterflies.

<i>Aloidendron barberae</i> Species of tree

Aloidendron barberae, formerly Aloe bainesii and Aloe barberae, also known as the tree aloe, is a species of succulent plant in the genus Aloidendron. It is native to South Africa northwards to Mozambique. In its native climes this slow-growing tree can reach up to 60 feet (18 m) high and 36 inches (0.91 m) in stem diameter. Aloidendron barberae is Africa's largest aloe-like plant. The tree aloe is often used as an ornamental plant. Its tubular flowers are rose pink (green-tipped); it flowers in winter and in its natural environment is pollinated by sunbirds.

<i>Aloe succotrina</i> Species of succulent

Aloe succotrina, the Fynbos aloe, is an aloe which is endemic to Cape Town and the south-western corner of the Western Cape, South Africa.

<i>Aloe polyphylla</i> Species of succulent

Aloe polyphylla, the spiral aloe, kroonaalwyn, lekhala kharetsa, or many-leaved aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Aloe that is endemic to the Kingdom of Lesotho in the Drakensberg mountains. An evergreen succulent perennial, it is well known for its strikingly symmetrical, five-pointed spiral growth habit.

<i>Aloe striata</i> Species of succulent

Aloe striata, with the common name coral aloe, is a small, stemless South African Aloe species.

<i>Aloiampelos commixta</i> species of plant in the family Asphodelaceae

Aloiampelos commixta is a flowering plant in the Asphodelaceae family. It is commonly called Table Mountain aloe, and is a rare succulent plant that is endemic to the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. It naturally occurs only on the Table Mountain range, within the city of Cape Town.

<i>Aloiampelos striatula</i>

Aloiampelos striatula, formerly Aloe striatula, the hardy aloe or striped-stemmed aloe, is a sturdy succulent plant that naturally occurs on the summits of mountains along the south of the Karoo region of South Africa. Tough and hardy, with bright yellow flowers, it is a popular plant in gardens around the world.

<i>Aloiampelos tenuior</i>

Aloiampelos tenuior, formerly Aloe tenuior, the fence aloe, is a bushy, multi-branched succulent plant from the grasslands and thickets of the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu Natal and Mpumalanga, South Africa. Its preferred habitat is sandy soils in open country, unlike many of its relatives that favour thicket vegetation. It is one of the most profusely flowering of all aloes and their relatives.

<i>Aloiampelos gracilis</i>

Aloiampelos gracilis, formerly Aloe gracilis, the rocket aloe, is a succulent plant, endemic to dry thicket vegetation around the city of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Its natural range lies just to the west of the related Aloiampelos ciliaris, and it occurs in bushy fynbos and dry thickets, and clustered on rocky outcrops at all altitudes. Its range extends westwards into the Baviaanskloof mountains.

<i>Kumara haemanthifolia</i> species of plant in the family Asphodelaceae

Kumara haemanthifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae. It is a rare species of succulent plant, native to a few high, inaccessible mountain peaks in the Fynbos habitat of Western Cape, South Africa.

<i>Aloiampelos</i> Genus of succulent flowering plants

Aloiampelos, formerly Aloe ser. Macrifoliae is a genus of succulent plants in the subfamily Asphodeloideae, comprising seven species found in Southern Africa. They are typically multi-branched climbing or sprawling shrubs, with long spindly stems and a large woody base on the ground. These characteristics, as well as their soft, narrow, triangular leaves whose lower part ensheathes the stem, make them easy to distinguish.

<i>Aloe brevifolia</i> Species of succulent

Aloe brevifolia, the short-leaved aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae. It is a tiny, compact, blue-green evergreen succulent perennial, that is native to the Western Cape, South Africa. Listed as Vulnerable on IUCN's global Red List, it is threatened in its natural habitat, but is also widely popular as an ornamental plant in rockeries and desert gardens worldwide. As it requires winter heat, in temperate regions it is grown under glass or as a houseplant.

<i>Kumara</i> (plant)

Kumara is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the subfamily Asphodeloideae, native to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

<i>Aloe speciosa</i> Species of plant


Aloe speciosa is a species of flowering plant in the Asphodelaceae family. It is commonly called tilt-head aloe and is an arborescent aloe indigenous to the thicket vegetation of the southern Cape Provinces of South Africa.

<i>Gasteria baylissiana</i> Species of succulent

Gasteria baylissiana, Suurberg gasteria, is a species of succulent flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae, native to the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

<i>Tulista pumila</i>

Tulista pumila ("Vratjiesaalwee") is a species of Tulista succulent plant, from the Western Cape, South Africa.

Aloeae

Aloeae is a tribe of succulent plants in the subfamily Asphodeloideae of the family Asphodelaceae, consisting of the aloes and their close relatives. The taxon may also be treated as the subfamily Alooideae by those botanists who retain the narrower circumscription of Asphodelaceae adopted prior to the APG III system. Typically, plants have rosettes of more or less succulent leaves, with or without a distinct stem. Their flowers are arranged in racemes and tend to be either small and pale, pollinated by insects, or larger and more brightly coloured, pollinated by birds. As of 2017, 11 genera are recognized, most created since 2010 by splitting off another five genera from Aloe and another two from Haworthia. Only two genera, Aloe and Aloidendron, are native outside southern Africa, extending northwards to the Arabian Peninsula. Seven genera are restricted to South Africa, some with small ranges. Members of the Aloeae are cultivated by succulent plant enthusiasts; Aloe species especially are used in temperate climates as ornamental garden plants. Some species are used in traditional medicine. Aloe vera and Aloe ferox are cultivated for their extracts, whose uses include moisturizers and emollients in cosmetics.

× Gonimara is a genus of hybrid plants, from a mixture of species from the Gonialoe and Kumara genera. Only a single hybrid is recorded for this mixture however, × Gonimaracorderoyi, an unusual and reputedly very attractive aloe hybrid, recorded as being produced by pollination between Gonialoe variegata and Kumara plicatilis.

References

  1. "Kumara plicatilis". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kumara plicatilis | PlantZAfrica.com". www.plantzafrica.com. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  3. "Search for Kumara". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  4. Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. London, 4th ed 1928
  5. "Kumara plicatilis (L.) G.D.Rowley". PlantZAfrica. South Africa National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  6. "RHS Plantfinder - Aloe plicatilis". Royal Horticultural Society. 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  7. Das Pflanzenreich 33. 324. 1908.
  8. × Gonimara - IPNI [ permanent dead link ]
  9. Smith GF, Figueiredo E, Molteno S (2018) ×Gonimara Gideon F.Sm. & Molteno (Asphodelaceae): a new nothogenus name for the artificial hybrid, ×Gonimara corderoyi (A.Berger) Gideon F.Sm. & Molteno, between the alooid species Gonialoe variegata and Kumara plicatilis, two southern African endemics. Bradleya, 36, 51-58