rock aloe

Aloe petricola is a medium sized plant that grows fairly low to the ground. This plant reaches anywhere from 18-24 inches in height and can reach a little over a meter in width, while its inflorescences can reach about 4 feet, surpassing the height of the plant's fleshy leaves. This succulent plant is virtually stemless and has rosettes of blue-green colored leaves. These leaves contain thorns on their surfaces and have short, triangular toothed margins. A mature plant can have up to six branches of flowers, which are long, skinny, densely flowered racemes, carried on stout stems. The inflorescences are tightly packed with dark brown anthers, and typically include at least two colors, usually a deep red towards the top where the buds are seen, and cream-yellow color at the bottom towards the base, reaching the stem of the flower. Flowers on the Aloe petricola plant are tube-shaped and about 30mm long. The colors on these plants are bright and vibrant, and they change as they begin to open, revealing more of the yellow color towards the bottom.

Aloe petricola is native in South Africa, specifically in Mpumalanga. This aloe tends to grow in rocky locations, where the plant is surrounded in stones, and the soil is only covering the roots. The name petricola was given to the plant suggesting that it lives and thrives in rocky places. The word breaks up into 'petri', which means stone, and 'cola', which means fond of. Aloe petricola plants are often pollinated by sunbirds, which use them as food plants as they seek nectar in their flowers.

This plant is also widely used in traditional medicine. Aloes, most commonly Aloe vera, are known for treating minor wounds and burns. Aloe petricola plants, however, have sap-filled leaves which, for centuries, have been frequently used as a remedy to heal stomach ailments.

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