Garden Aloes

Aloe harlana

Also Known As: Harla Aloe, Mosaic Aloe, Aloe harlanii

Category: Mosaic Aloes

USDA Hardiness Zones: 9b - 11

Overview

Aloe harlana is a handsome, stemless plant with flat, wide dark green leaves and long, linear flecking of white to lime stripes that form rosettes to about 3 feet tall.

Description

Aloe harlana has plastic-like stiff leaves are uniformly semi-glossy, dark olive-green with attractive light longitudinal streaks and dashes and brown teeth. It has a short stem and is slow to produce offsets - in most cases this is usually a solitary species. Plant shape is somewhat spreading and upright.

Flowering

The flowers of Aloe harlana appear in spring on a 2 to 3 foot well-branched (3-7 branches) flower stalk. Branching from below the middle of the inflorescence each branch holds a conical raceme of flowers that are either red-orange or yellow as they begin to open from the bottom of the raceme upwards so in the early stages both the red buds and orange flowers are displayed at the same time. The flowers are really the best differentiating morphological characteristic which sets this 'plastic-like' north African spotted aloe apart.

Origin / History

Aloe harlana comes from grassy slopes from around 5,000 to 6,000 feet in elevation near the village of Harla in the Harerghe Province south of the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia. The name comes from the location (Harla, 9 miles East of Dive Dawa) where this plant was discovered by Gilbert Westacott Reynolds in 1957.

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Care / Cultivation

Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to very little.

Frost Tenderness

Reportedly found to be hardy to at least 28 degrees without damage.

Use in the Garden

The interesting plastic like foliage makes Aloe harlana an excellent specimen plant for a larger container or in a patio garden.

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Learn More

The information on this page about Aloe harlana has been gathered and summarized from the sources below. Visit these pages to learn more.

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