Garden Aloes

Aloe vacillans

Also Known As: Aloe dhalensis, Aloe audhalica

Category: Single Head Stemless Aloes

USDA Hardiness Zones: 9a - 11

Overview

These Aloes hail from Saudi Arabia and Yemen and endure Arizona heat as well as Aloe vera. This is an very common aloe in it's native habitat, where it typically grows as a stemless, solitary upright pale green to pale blue-green plant with thick, short leaves.

Description

A native to the Saudi Arabian peninsula, Aloe vacillans grows stemless, or on short stems, offsets occasionally and forms small groups. The 15 to 20 sword-shaped narrowed leaves form rosettes. Leaves are unmarked and have small sharp brown teeth along the margins. As seedlings, however, the leaves are spotted. The leaf blade is about 30 to 60 inches long and 7 to 13 inches wide. On the underside of the leaf there are occasionally few spikes in the middle near the tip. The leaf surface is rough. The brown or reddish brown teeth on the leaf margin are 2 to 3 millimeters long and stand 6 to 10 millimeters apart.

Flowering

Flowers on sparingly branched, very upright inflorescences are either yellow are red-orange. Flowering time of year varies a lot with some flowering in winter and other in summer or early fall.

Origin / History

Aloe vacillans is a stemless, suckering aloe from Saudi Arabia. The specific epithet vacillans comes from the Latin and means 'back and forth'. Described during Forsskal's 18th century explorations. Found in southwestern Saudi Arabia and Yemen at 4300-9800 feet. It is widely distributed, usually on rocky substrates. This species has absorbed the former A. dhalensis and A. audhalica, both described in 1965. No specimen survived the original exploration, and a subsequent collection over a hundred years later was incomplete, explaining the relative obscurity of the original A. vacillans at the time these other species were described. There are several varieties and at one time, they were individualized as species, but have since been lumped under A. vacillans. Here are the original 3 varieties based on flower color and habit: Aloe vacillans v. audhalica: Has short pinkish red flowers. Aloe vacillans v. dhalensis: Has short yellow flowers. Aloe vavillans v. vacillans: Has tall yellow flowers.

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Care / Cultivation

This aloe may be very heat tolerant in cultivation.

Frost Tenderness

Use in the Garden

The Aloe vacillans varieties are great for gardens with hot, bright sun.

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Learn More

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

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