grass-aloes are rarely seen.
- The name grass-aloe fits the appearance of these aloes and camouflage them well where they grow in the grassveld. Few people take notice of them unless they are in bloom. The aloes are well adjusted to survive in their habitat. A grassveld is set on fire by lightning during thunder storms on a regular basis but the grass-aloes survive as the short stem and the top part of the roots are filled with water.
Aloe verecunda - photo below - is typical for a grass-aloe. The plant rosette (above the stem) is roughly 30-40 cm high (just over 12 inches) but some side leaves will be longer. It does not make a very long inflorescens with a short flower raceme very much like Aloe boylei on the photo further down.

Aloe boylei - photo below - is a larger grass-aloe with broader leaves than A.verecunda above. Not much higher, the rosette is about 40cm - 50cm high, but the leaves are broader making it a larger plant. The plants on the photo are still young, in time it will also develop a short trunk where the previous leaves were attached. Aloe boylei looses the leaves in winter where the climate is cold, making this an aloe which can be planted in cold climates.

I thought myself very lucky to get Aloe albida one of the rarer grass-aloes - photo below, showing size using my finger tip. This little aloe grows in crevices of one mountain range. It needs fire to keep the grass under controll as it can not compete with the larger grasses.

The rosette is maybe 10 cm high as the leaves do not stand up and it is a very small plant. The bright green leaves are covered in a waxy substance that protect them and give them a pale color. The leaves are less than one centimeter broad with tiny white teeth. See the photo below for the color of the rosette that is easier than words.

To be safe I kept Aloe albida in the pot where it was growing fine when I bought it.
The little aloe never looked back. I stopped fussing over it and Aloe albida often became completely dry before I realized it should be watered. Like most aloes it did not complain or wilt when it was dry. As A. albida has now overgrown the pot and the plastic is disintegrating I will have to replant it. I am going to plant one half in the garden and the rest in another container. I do not have seeds as I have only one plant with offsets and (most)aloes do not self-pollinate.

Up to now Aloe albida grew outside in our dry hot summer but in the shade with plenty mist and rain in winter. The opposite of the habitat of this aloe which is summer rain with mist in the mountains.

Most if not all grass-aloes like shade. It would look nice to plant a small patch of grass with the aloes growing in the grass, but I am still thinking on that. The patch of grass would have to be where the grass can not spread and most grasses die here in summer, but maybe not if I plant them in shade. The dead grass would also look good, sort of natural - I am thinking on that.

...... and now a beautiful grass-aloe hybrid.

We bought the young plants as Aloe vossii which is a critically rare aloe. The plants grew too well and was soon way larger than it ought to be. We then knew that this must be a hybrid even though the description of the leaves fitted Aloe vossii.

Then when it bloomed with a branched inflorescens the secret was out - this is a hybrid for sure.

We like our two miss-named aloes. The plants give a nice show and require no care with very little water.

The color of the flowers from the hybrid resemble the grass aloe A.cooperii. Could be a hybrid from a hybrid? Oh-well give it a name and make a new cultivar.

With all these grass aloes in a grass patch (different grasses), just think how the birds will enjoy it. Seeds followed by sweet nectar.