The rules for posting are simple!

1. Every Friday post a photo that includes one or more flowers.
2. Please only post photos you have authority to use.
3. Include a link to this blog in your post - http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.com/
4. Leave the link to your FloralFridayFoto post below on inlinkz.
5. Visit other blogs listed ... comment & enjoy!

When to Post:
inlinkz will be available every Thursday and will remain open until the next Wednesday.

Thursday 4 August 2016

FFF246 - ALOE MACULATA

Aloe maculata (synonym Aloe saponaria; commonly known as the soap aloe or zebra aloe) is a Southern African species of aloe in the Asphodelaceae family. Local people in South Africa know it informally as the "Bontaalwyn" in Afrikaans, or "Lekhala" in the Sesotho language.

It is a very variable species and hybridises easily with other similar aloes, sometimes making it difficult to identify. The leaves range in colour from red to green, but always have distinctive "H-shaped" spots. The flowers are similarly variable in colour, ranging from bright red to yellow, but are always bunched in a distinctively flat-topped raceme. The inflorescence is borne on the top of a tall, multi-branched stalk and the seeds are reputedly poisonous.

This species was previously known as Aloe saponaria (a name that came from the Latin "sapo" meaning soap, as the sap makes a soapy lather in water - the juice from the leaves is traditionally used as soap by indigenous people). Its currently accepted name, according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), is Aloe maculata ("maculata" means speckled or marked). Taxonomically, it forms part of the Saponariae series of very closely related Aloe species, together with Aloe petrophila, Aloe umfoloziensis, Aloe greatheadii and Aloe davyana.

The Soap Aloe is highly adaptable and is naturally found in a wide range of habitats across Southern Africa, from Zimbabwe in the north, to the Cape Peninsula in the south. Specifically, it is native to southern and eastern South Africa, south-eastern Botswana and Zimbabwe. In addition, it is now planted around the world as a popular landscape plant in warm desert regions – especially in the United States, where it is the most popular ornamental aloe in the Tucson, Arizona area, and is also popular in California.

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16 comments:

  1. lol, I had one of these long ago but I can´t remembeer ever having flowers on them.

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  2. Our granny's love to grow these plants indoors! I never tried, but I am no granny eighther. Thanks for your kind comment. Groetjes Hetty

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  3. Nick, exotic. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. the leaves are pretty common, but I've seen these beautiful flowers only bloom in the botanical garden. Neat idea to just cut a leaf and have soap:)

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  5. Vibrant colouring. Thanks for hosting, Nick.

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  6. Oh, lovely summery looking flower♪ I like the color coordination of orange and yellowish tip(^_^)v
    Thank you very much for hosting. Sincerely from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

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  7. Wonderful photo and the flower is a very pretty one. I am happy to be joining in again. I took a break due to a family bereavement.

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  8. Hello Nick,
    what a wonderful blossom! I love it ♥
    Have a nice weekend,
    moni
    http://www.reflexionblog.de

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  9. Heisann, good to see, inlinkz is back! I present my latest rose today, called "akvarel rose", I have not much information about it... so if any of you have any clue, please tell me!

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  10. I like the colour dear Nick....
    An amazing Blossom...
    Have a nice weeken Jen

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  11. What an interesting flower! Thanks for hosting. :)

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  12. Cool color gradation! Thanks for hosting. :D

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  13. Never heard about this lovely flower!
    Thanks for hosting & Enjoy the weekend :)

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  14. Such a lovely flower !!
    Happy weekend :)

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  15. Seems like a handy little aloe, except for the poison seed part. It reminds me of chili peppers.

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