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Despite the fact that the Garden displays plants with
all three names, Aloe zebrina is synonymous with A. ammophila
and A. transvaalensis. The only common names I have seen for
it in English are zebra leaf aloe and tiger aloe, but it is also called
kanniedood in Afrikaans. It is a small usually stemless succulent
with clumping rosettes of lance-shaped leaves that bear white blotches
and thick brownish marginal teeth. When drought-stricken, the leaves
tend to dry back and become somewhat twisted. In some forms the white
blotches become more zebra-like streaks. The flowers of the inflorescence
are pink to orange. Its manner of propagating is to form subsidiary
or 'pup' rosettes that often become quite numerous. It is fairly widespread
in South Africa and ranges into Namibia and Botswana, and may be present
also in parts of tropical Africa.
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