Aloe cooperi
I have been waiting years for this so called 'Grass Aloe' to flower, so long in fact I have forgotten from where or from whom I originally got it.
It is a South African species discovered by British plant hunter and naturalist William Burchell (1781-1863) around 1815 though it was named for professional plant collector Thomas Cooper who rediscovered it later.
It grows in both dry rocky locations as well as wet marshy ones in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga so in a garden situation it needs friable soil with some moisture. Perhaps this water requirement is the reason it took so long to flower for me as I had assumed it was not requiring such conditions.
The distinctive two ranked V shaped leaves are white-spotted near the base and the cone shaped inflorescence is salmon pink with individual flowers being green tipped.
This is a cold tolerant Aloe so should be tolerant of some frost.
I am hoping this will set seed as it is mostly grows in solitary rather than clump forming way.
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