Garden Aloes

Aloe 'Rooikappie'

Also Known As: Little Red Riding Hood Aloe, Aloe rudikoppe, Aloe 'Little Gem'

Category: Red Aloes

USDA Hardiness Zones: 9b - 11

Overview

Aloe rudikoppe, commonly known as 'Little Gem', is a lovely landscape aloe that grows to less than 1 foot tall with many densely clustered 12 inch wide rosettes of medium green, spotted leaves. This small, clumping aloe produces 2 foot tall branched, flat-topped inflorescences of showy yellow/orange flowers all year.

Description

One of the best results of aloe hybridization so far is realized in A. 'Rooikappie' (pronounced roy-copy, Afrikaans for Little Red Riding Hood). If one were to choose the characteristics of the ideal landscape aloe, many of them would be represented in this plant. The growth of Aloe 'Rooikappie' is fairly compact with a clumping form of stems/leaves 12 inches long, greenish with attractive spots. Plants are stemless, slow to offset and have stiff, unbendable leaves that vary from a dull deep green to maroon. The 30 cm (12 inch) rosettes of Aloe 'Rooikappie' are large enough to make an impact in a small landscape or can be massed for larger-scale displays. Maximum diameter seems to be about 18 inches. Pups freely with new offsets creating a nice clump very fast. Its foliage is attractively spotted and is not prone to the tip die-back or other blemishes that seem to plague many other medium-sized aloes. It has great color in high heat and full sun (reddish-brown with prominent spotting) on flattish leaves. Teeth prominent and sharp. Stems grow upwards then recurved at tips.

Flowering

When you see a photo of the inflorescence, you'll understand the name. The flowers at the tip of the flower stem are massed together in the shape of a hood. Mature plants seem to flower periodically all year round in mild climates but is especially prolific in the fall. Arizona and low desert locations will see this species stop blooming during the hottest summer months. Blooms lasts a long time-several weeks usually depending on your weather. Aloe 'Rooikappie' has an attractive flower spike that reaches 18 to 24 inches tall with many orange pendant bell shaped blooms near the top that later turn darker yellow. Flowers themselves are conical in shape and highly symmetrical while developing.

Origin / History

This is a wonderful hybrid created by Cynthia Giddy many years ago, not to be confused with the very similar hybrid named after her (a slight larger plant with less perfectly symmetrical flowers). Giddy was a South African conservationist, horticulturist and author of 'The Cycads of South Africa' (Purnell & Sons,1974 ). She was a noted authority on clivia, aloe and African cycads and maintained a nursery in Natal, South Africa. Giddy offered a number of Aloe hybrids and cultivars in the catalogs of her Umlaas Aloe Nursery—this one as early as 1974. The name 'rooikappie' translates in Afrikaans as 'little red cap' and was the name used for the for Grimm's fairy tale 'Little Red Riding Hood'. Aloe 'Rooikappie' Giddy is sometimes sold under the name, Aloe rudikoppe or as 'Little Gem'. Also known as the Little Red Riding Hood aloe. This plant was distributed by the Huntington Botanical Gardens.

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Care / Cultivation

Plant Aloe 'Rooikappie' in full sun to light shade. It tolerates water conditions from substantial regular garden watering to very dry conditions. Likes rich well draining soil. Propagation is from tissue culture and off shoots.

Frost Tenderness

Hardy down to about 22F.

Use in the Garden

A great accent plant in for small landscape spaces or massed as a ground cover in a water-wise garden. Great accent or small container specimen. Placing several of these plants throughout a bed of perennials would be joyful.

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Learn More

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

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