Aloe erinacea

[GreekDesert]

Aloe erinacea

[Gee.S]

^ I like that!

[Geoff]

That's a pretty old plant!.. .would be worth a fortune here in California.

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Exceptional very old show specimen and rightly so an overall winner of one of the Los Angeles area succulents shows

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Aloe erinacea was once lumped into Aloe melanacantha, but thankfully now its own species. It is a much slower growing plant with different colored leaves and smaller size, though flowers are somewhat similar. Both are somewhat touchy plants that can be prone to rot if not carefully watered in times of excessive heat. Both are sun and heat-loving species, though this one does pretty well with more shade than does Aloe melanacantha (I have rotted several of the latter by not giving them enough sunlight). This plant is really best for pot culture due to its smaller size and 'waste' as a landscape plant... just too nice to tossed into the yard. Aloe melanacantha is a good landscape aloe, though. Aloe erinaceas growing outdoors in California, unless in a great microclimate, seem predisposed to decline eventually (rotting slowly from the bottom up). This plant is characterized by its stiff, unbending, upright, turquoise to sea-green leaves heavily armed with white spines, sometimes tipped with black on not only the leaf margins but along the center of the back of each leaf. This species differs from melancantha also in its flowers, time of flowering and willlingness to flower. Most plants seem quite reluctant to do so and they flower only once quite mature (many years old). Flowers are on solitary, usually unbranching stalks and only about a foot high or less (unlike the 2'-3' tall flowers of melancantha).. and flowering is later in the year (later in winter by about a month or more). And flowers are different colors (pale yellow and pale red). It is a South African species.

[Jkwinston]

Very interesting to see such fabulous examples. Two years ago, I bought some aloe seeds from Koehres. Of the four, A somaliensis was the best performer because I managed to have 5 of these that are still alive. All 8 of my A dichotoma perished in the first 3 months. After 20 months, two more babies arrived. I could not believe it. One was A broomii, and the other was A erinacea. But that means one each out of ten, which is not good. As you would suspect, the erinacea is taking its time. This experience has put me off trying to grow aloe from seeds, for the rest of my life. Jkw

[Geoff]

you do need to choose your species wisely... some aloes are easy grow from seeds (Aloe vaombe is my favorite... can take a seed in 5-6 years have a tree aloe making more seeds... its amazing)

[GreekDesert]

here is a very old plant.

[Geoff]

VERY nice!!!!

[GreekDesert]

Aloe erinacea

[Geoff]

finally see both this plant and Aloe melanacantha planted side by side (was once lumped in with this other species) at the Huntington... Aloe erinacea on right (and another one partially visible lower left)

Aloe melanocantha and erinacea at H.jpg (154.79 KiB) Viewed 11923 times

[Spination]

One of my very favorite Aloes.

These are closing in on 2 years since I acquired them - one has just put on a spurt of growth.

2015 05 21 Aloe erinacea a X750.jpg (150.64 KiB) Viewed 11744 times

so cool...

2015 05 21 Aloe erinacea a a.jpg (66.84 KiB) Viewed 11744 times

[Geoff]

good sized plants…must have cost a fortune

[Spination]

Not really. I got them nearly 2 years ago from Jeremy Spath who was very fair with me on Aloe prices. He even gave me a pachygaster which irked a certain T.H. to no end, something that makes me smile every time I look at that plant. hehe
Here's when I got them, just $15 each which doesn't seem that expensive to me versus the "coolness factor". This species is just so awesome!
Small or large, I like 'em all.

2013 09 23 Aloe erinacea a X750.jpg (78.08 KiB) Viewed 11736 times

[Geoff]

wow… usually plants that size run in the $30s to $50s… nice find!

[Spination]

Wow, I had no idea. Then again, I don't think I've ever noticed them on Ebay either, so I wouldn't have had occasion to get a feel for their prices. I had bought other Aloe from Jeremy...like Sunset, sabea...and he asked if I'd be interested in betsilleensis and erinacea. I looked them up on the net and they seemed like highly interesting species to me. I snagged 2 of each @ 15 per (sounded reasonable) and he tossed in a pachygaster as well. His reasoning was that he had no clue what to charge for the pachy, so he gave it to me instead! Nice guy!!! All of them are up there at the top of my Aloe favorites. As an aside, he sold me one of my very favorite agave plants, a fantastic and large specimen of sebastiana. In my opinion, Jeremy has a real eye for very desirable plants, and very generous sharing them with other enthusiasts. People like him are a major credit to the trade.

Similar to erinacea, I finally got my hands on a melanacantha a couple of weeks ago (Ebay), so I'm looking forward to that growing and comparing to erinacea. I don't think I've seen that offered previously, and although it doesn't have as nice spination as the ones posted in the gallery for that species, I'm hoping the reason is that it's still small and will get better as it grows.

Now, I can't wait until the erinacea plants get big or old enough to flower, and although I see they seldom offset, maybe I'll get lucky in that department as well. I did read they can form clumps, so I guess they must be able to offset. I think a distinction was made between the propensity of the species to cluster in habitat, but remain solitary in cultivation. I don't believe I want to plant them outdoors, but maybe I can create a larger but protected planting area than a pot, and try to more or less simulate habitat, and see what happens. ? As much as I love collecting interesting plants, it's even much more fun to make more!

[Geoff]

Finally saw these flower, mid February. About 1-2 months after Aloe melanacanthas were all done flowering. Used to be considered the same species. Flowers and time of flowering different... good thing now two different species.

Aloe erinaceae 2 another view early flower 2-17 H.jpg (143.84 KiB) Viewed 11105 times

Aloe erinaceae all 3 flowering plants 2-17 Middle.jpg (152.23 KiB) Viewed 11105 times

Aloe erinaceae in full flower 2-17 Middle H.jpg (202.31 KiB) Viewed 11105 times

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Aloe erincaceae flower close up in bloom 2-17 middle H.jpg (98.28 KiB) Viewed 11105 times

[Spination]

Wow, nice to see what these look like in bloom. Those stalks look very substantial for the size of the rosettes.

[mickthecactus]

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[Azuleja]

At the Huntington

[toditd]

Ooo...very nice!

[Spination]

Same plant as the larger in post #10, #12

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2018 05 01 Aloe erinacea c.jpg (174.09 KiB) Viewed 10355 times

[toditd]

Aloe erinacea - Boyce Thompson Arboretum - 2018-09-02

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Aloe erinacea - Boyce Thompson Arboretum - 2018-09-02

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[WilOR]

One of my friends has been collecting for decades and she has some amazing plants. I had to search all over here to figure out what it is but it's absolutely amazing.

[Kanisuty]

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[mickthecactus]

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[ExoticPlants15]

Any idea what is going on with this one?