Aloe Species, Namibia Partridge Breast Aloe

Very neat smaller stemless suckering aloe from Namibia. Looks similar to the 'regular' Partridge Breast aloe in that it has smooth, stif...Read Moref nearly toothless leaves with spots, but this one has linear spots that almost form stripes, leaves are recurved, stiff and very deeply 'V'd. I have several and have found them easy, though sometimes prone to rot, especially if overwatered in summer, outdoors in southern California, in the ground or in pots. Potted plants tend to be smaller and sucker more quickly than plants left in the ground. Eventually plants sucker, with suckers very close to mother plant. Flowers are very tall, branched and pale pink. Plants will often bloom repeatedly during the flowering season.

Very similar to, and probably closely related to, Aloe sladenia, which is also from Namibia and also has similar inflorescence and flower color, not to mention identical spotting on the leaves. Leaves of dinteria tend to be arching, though, while those of sladenia are more upright with very little arch to them. That single characteristic is the only way I can tell these two apart, other than Aloe dinteri has the potential to get much larger if allowed to, while sladenia seems limited in the size it can attain.

Was pleasantly surprised to see this species is relatively cold hardy for an aloe, with none of my plants showing any cold damage at 27F for several hours, despite hundreds of other species being injured and a few turned to complete mush.