Plant Wiki

The open plant encyclopedia

Know any plant.
Grow it well.

Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.

  • 13,000+plants with full pages
  • 365,000+plant species worldwide
  • 220+countries covered

Common in

See all

The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.

What do you want to do?

Popular plants

Browse all plants

See them in 3D

All plants in 3D

Browse plants

Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.

Plant Wiki › Browse plants

Fynbos aloe

Aloe succotrina

Also called Bombay Aloe, Socotrine Aloes, Turkey Aloe, Zanzibar Aloe, Mocha Aloe, Sabila

Fynbos aloe
Photo: Abu Shawka, Public domain

Aloe succotrina is a clustering succulent from the Cape region of South Africa that forms dense rosettes up to about 1 to 2 metres across. It is grown for its winter flowering, which attracts sunbirds, and it needs full sun and very well drained soil.

Family
Asphodelaceae (Aloe family)
Grows as
Succulent
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently and let the soil dry out fully between waterings.
Soil
Very well drained, sandy or gritty mix.
Temperature
Mild Mediterranean-type conditions; protect from frost, roughly below 0 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
SW. Cape Prov.
Climate
subtropical

About

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.

How to grow it

Aloe succotrina can easily be grown as an ornamental plant in Mediterranean climate gardens, rockeries, and in containers. It is particularly striking in winter, when it flowers. Western Cape gardens use it in Fynbos native plant themed natural landscaping.

The plant prefers a sunny, well drained spot. Space should be provided for maturity, as it eventually grows into a large and dense cluster.

Where it grows

Aloe succotrina is naturally found on the Cape Peninsula, and as far as Mossel Bay to the east. This aloe is common in Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos vegetation, and typically grows high up on cliff faces and rocky outcrops where seasonal fires do not reach it. It is one of the few Aloes that naturally occur in fynbos habitats - along with the Fan Aloe and Aloiampelos commixta of Table Mountain.

Other Aloe plants

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 succotrina 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.

Credits & terms

Identify a plant

Point at a leaf or flower and snap. One plant in frame works best.

Your photo
Starting camera…