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Aloe polyphylla
Also called Basotoland Aloe, Coiled Aloe
Spiral aloe is a stemless succulent from the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho, prized for its symmetrical five-pointed leaf spiral. It grows best in cool, bright conditions with sharp drainage and only modest watering.
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.
The spiral aloe grows in high, mountainous, grassy slopes at altitudes between 2,000 and 2,599 m (6,560 and 8,530 ft), and sometimes higher on east-facing slopes. Here it clings to rocky crevices and well-drained scree slopes. The climate is cool in the summer and in the winter the aloes are often covered in deep snow. The region also has a very high summer rainfall and this moisture is augmented by the clouds which engulf the Lesotho mountain peaks.
Aloe aaata · Aloe aageodonta · Aloe abyssicola · Tent Cent Aloe · Spotted Aloe · African Aloe · White Grass Aloe · Aloe albiflora · Aldabra Aloe · Aloe ambigens · Aloe andongensis · Wylliespoort Aloe
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Aloe polyphylla by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
