Aloe Species

Central Phoenix -- My Aloe fleurentinorum grows outside in a large ceramic pot in full sun. It is a tough plant -- I don't water it in w...Read Moreinter and water it about once a month in summer, although it has gone at least two months without water in the middle of summer with no problem. Its leaves get splashed with chlorinated water during pool cleaning but this has had no effect. It blooms annually in Jan./Feb. but the bloom spike froze this year (2014/15) when it went down to 24F in late December. The leaves are a dark purple/green and untoothed.

Zone 9b Coastal Otago, New Zealand

Bought this online and without having a single clue about it (still none the wiser, rea...Read Morelly) except that I like weird taxonomic epithets :-)
Received a 20cm across olive green suede-textured plant with thick, recurved, tapering and slightly ridged leaves that feel like worn velveteen and are starting to take on the purplish hue described here by others. Looks like a 5 year plant grown hard to me, rather than a very young spec. Seems particularly toothless so guessing it's the 'edentata' form, though this species IS variable- I have seen strangely divergent plants lumped under this name and wonder if there's some serious nursery confusion going on.
Even smallish it has much to recommend it, from it's lovely almost shagreen texture to it's oddly endearing 'alien-lurching-to-its-feet-after-landing' posture on the ground. Mine has a short neck holding it clear of the soil and looks as though it might develop into a mini-trunk as it loses more leaves, but will keep you posted about trunkiness.
Have it inside potted at the mo due to soggy, cold winter conditions but have given it water once a week and it's still growing leaves so wouldn't call it dormant.
If you're interested in the textural aspects of your succulent collection this is a blue ribbon inclusion, forming a nice contrast to all those silvery smooth things.

This is a great Aloe for Arizona gardens. The purple, rough leaves are great and is often a repeat bloomer! I've noticed there is a lot...Read More of variation in this species. I have 4 in the yard and one plant is low to the ground, another is forming an upright stem and suckering...both of these take full sun very well and have rather sparsely flowered racemes...then another 2 that didn't handle the sun very well are under a tree, have very dense and multiple racemes, and are entirely toothless. One of those 2 also suckers. I believe them to be of the edentata form described in 2000 as Aloe edentata, but later lumped under A. fleurentiniorum.
This species didn't survive the 2007 frost at 19F, but suckers did rise from underground later to replace what was lost.

Interesting and odd aloe.. always tends to look off center. In full sun gets very dark coloration- a dark green-black color. In shadier...Read More locations stays a deep green. Leaf texture is slightly rough and leaves are thick, brittle and long. Nearly toothless (just the dinkiest hint of marginal teeth). Prone to rot if overwatered in summer (though really I have not found this to be the case.. pretty easy plant in southern California). Native of deserts of Yemen. Flowers multiple times a year (mid to late summer, as well as winter).