^{(Photograph = Aloe challisii, www.nesaflora.co.za, D.R. McKenzie)}

Introduction

What looks like grass growing in an unkempt meadow but looks like an aloe too? It is a grass aloe. The leaves can be thin and flimsy, and grass aloes seem like bulb plants when in flower.

The Details

Grass aloes range throughout much of southern Africa, but they are not commonly found. They are unique because of their thin foliage and because some  of them have a storage root-like structure underground. Some are are tiny, perhaps 6- to 10-inches tall, whereas others are like large onions ready to harvest. Some are deciduous.

A few grass aloes can survive temperatures that will kill most aloes; their leaves will freeze back and then sprout again in the spring. They tend to bloom in the spring rather than in the winter when it rains in parts of Southern Africa.

Some grass aloes prefer dry meadow-like conditions, but others hang from cliffs where they are safe from most plant eaters and where they grow roots deep into the rocks to tap moisture.

Sadly, grass aloes are not easily found for sale. If they are for sale they are commonly sold as seeds. A careful search of the Internet sometimes turns up a vendor or two including Silverhill Seeds. “Grass Aloes in the South African Veld” by Charles Craib (2005), is a great book for learning more about these plants.

Additional Reading: Aloes