Marlothii or Ferox

[RustyShakleford]

Picked this up in the grocery store garden center, no ID label of course. PlantSnap says it’s a Aloe marlothii, but I have seen some ferox that look pretty close also. Any guesses?

[mcvansoest]

Marlothii is supposed to be more spiny on the leaves, but the best way to tell is when it flowers - they carry their flowers very differently on their inflorescences.

[Spination]

Young plants are difficult, and can vary.
Here's a marlothii I got... where's the bumps?

2013 07 21 Aloe Marlothi #3.jpg (71.18 KiB) Viewed 27831 times

Hmmm.... same plant later on. Plenty bumpy!

2016 02 10 Aloe marlothii #3.JPG (235.47 KiB) Viewed 27831 times

One group of ferox seedlings I grew from seed

2017 03 26 Aloe White Flower Seedlings medium a.jpg (141.52 KiB) Viewed 27831 times

Based on how bumpy your plant is - my gut feel is it's marlothii. Time will tell though...

[RustyShakleford]

Lol, I figured that’s what I would hear, I guess I will have to wait for it to flower. Not a big deal I like both of them, just like to know what I have.

[Spination]

I think you'll figure it out long before then. Wait for it to become a rosette, and see how it looks then. When more mature, but even long before flowering, they don't look that much alike any more.

[Bananaguy]

That’s awesome with all the spines. Saw something months ago at a nursery that looked similar but less spines and no label on the plant. Pretty cool find at a grocery store as here you find banana plants, pineapple, coconut, succulent plants at best.

[Azuleja]

Probably marlothii, although I have one thats nearly spineless on the back. It was a weirdo I picked it out of a large group. Each was a little different.

[RustyShakleford]

The more I read this board, the more interested in aloes I get. There are some really cool aloes you guys post. I saw this one at the same store today, I can’t figure out if it’s an aloe, gasteria, or an Agave. Agave like leaves but had markings like an aloe or gasteria. Gasteralagave perhaps? Haha, I was tempted to get it, but I have spent too much on yard and plant stuff this week already.

[Spination]

I'm not an expert on those, and don't have that...but if memory serves, that might well be Gasteraloe 'Green Ice', or some such Gasteria-Aloe hybrid.

EDIT - yes on Gasteria, Haworthia, Aloe crossings, but any of those with Agave not possible...methinks.

[RustyShakleford]

Yeah I didn’t think agave was able to cross with the others. Good call on the green ice, after digging around I’m pretty sure it’s that or “white wing” definitively a gasteraloe. When it first caught my eye it was in the middle of a deep shelf, and I thought it was a white rhino VR agave! Might have to see if they still have it tomorrow, $6.99 is cheap compared to eBay prices.

[Spination]

It's a nice looking plant, and the price is right.

[Azuleja]

I like gasteraloes because gasteria tend to be a little more cold tolerant than aloe. Both gasteria and gasteraloe have done well for me outside through winter.

[RustyShakleford]

I have a few gasterias that I have kept inside as houseplants, they seem happy as two out of three have bloomed and grown significantly. Picked up one of the gasteraloes yesterday, I plan on keeping it outside in a pot.

[Stan]

I have a large A.marlothii..and picked up what I thought was an especially colorful leaved small plant about three years ago now. Its grown and less orange and is I see is really an A.ferox.

[DesertGal]

Trying to find out exactly what aloe this is, thanks!

[Stan]

A.marlothii has the nicer color. That blue can also be purplish with dashes of orange in full hot sun and kept slightly dry.
I moved mine as it was growing close to the sidewalk..but moved it too far and in part shade,its just green,leaves not plump as before. Looks puny compared to the warrior it was.

[Arinda]

For me it's more ferox like. Because I believe that the leaves of marlothii being wider in the low half, a bit like a sword.
See the pictures of mine marlothii.

[Stan]

I have both. When the A.ferox was a 4" potted plant,I thought it was a Marlothii. Not even sure why I bought since I had the large Aloe already. Then,it became a A. ferox. In fact there were two and one rotted one semi rainy winter. A. marlothii has never had that problem but A. ferox is known for that.

[rts265]

I got these two at the nursery. Said they’re ferox. I’m suspicious of one being marlothii.

CAE4EDD7-A4B2-4971-83DC-B104363BC1E2.jpeg (240.08 KiB) Viewed 24607 times

[Axel]

I bought this aloe marlothii or ferox (no label) after noticing how fast it has grown vertically since i first noticed it in february in the shop. It’s pretty blue and heavily spined.