Garden Aloes

Aloe sabaea

Also Known As: Yemen Tree Aloe, Aloidendron sabaeum

Category: Single Head Tree Aloes

USDA Hardiness Zones: 9a-10b

Overview

Aloe sabaea is a solitary tree aloe from Yemen, where it grows up to about 12 feet tall. This graceful looking aloe has a solitary trunk topped with a side-facing rosette of long pale green leaves that drape toward the ground.

Description

Aloe sabaea is a curious plant having long, very droopy, pale green to grey-green leaves (deeper green in shady conditions) that sometimes droop all the way to the ground. Rarely a leaf or two will extend laterally, but most almost cling to the stem, through plants are often growing at an angle, possibly due to wind influence and a bit of top-heaviness. Plants would fit in a Dr. Seuss scene perfectly. Stems do not retain old leaves. Leaves have whitish, bluntish marginal teeth.

Flowering

Flowers in winter are on very open racemes on multibranched inflorescences, varying from dark red to yellow-orange and are relatively wide and short for aloe flowers, their stamens and styles protruding slightly from the ends. The flowers of Aloe sabaea appear on tall upright inflorescences in open conical racemes on a plant that can reach 8 to 12 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide.

Origin / History

This unusual plant comes from remote areas of Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia where it grows at an intermediate elevation in stony barren soils. The plant's name 'sabaea' comes from the Roman name for Arabia Felix, the area we now call Yemen and was also called Sheba in the King James version of the bible. This plant was described and named by Georg Agustus Schweinfurth in 1894. Schweinfurth was a German botanist and ethnologist who travelled throughout East Central Africa and the Saudi Arabian peninsula. He found it during his travels growing in sunny, stony, barren soils.

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Care / Cultivation

Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil. This is a fairly slow growing aloe, taking about 10 years from seedling size to get to any possible flowering height (about 4 feet tall).

Frost Tenderness

Protect from temperatures below 27° F.

Use in the Garden

With it's drooping form tree-like form, Aloe sabaea will make and unusual and striking specimen plant for gardens in the mild climates. Suitable for USDA Zones 9-10, Aloe sabaea attracts birds and butterflies and is resistant to deer.

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Learn More

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

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