Aloe plicatilis (fan aloe)

Native to South Africa, where it occurs in southern Western Cape Province, from Franschhoek to Elandskloof, growing on rocky mountain slopes alongside proteas and cape heaths.

A shrub or small tree, this succulent grows to 5 m high and wide, with a branched stem bearing fans of stiff, rather flat, spineless, strap-shaped leaves up to 30 cm long. The spikes of tubular, red flowers are borne at the end of upright peduncles (flower stalks) from spring to early summer in South Africa, and from late winter to early spring in Britain. The flowers are pollinated by sunbirds in its native habitat.

Aloe plicatilis by Sydenham Edwards from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine (1799).

Curtis’s Botanical Magazine (Editor: Martyn Rix) provides an international forum of particular interest to botanists and horticulturists, plant ecologists and those with a special interest in botanical illustration.

Now well over two hundred years old, the Magazine is the longest running botanical periodical featuring colour illustrations of plants. Each four-part volume contains 24 plant portraits reproduced from watercolour originals by leading international botanical artists. Detailed but accessible articles combine horticultural and botanical information, history, conservation and economic uses of the plants described.

Published for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
See the Wiley-Blackwell Subscription Information page for rates (for both print and online).

Fan aloe is not considered to be threatened, but has a rather limited distribution in the wild. It is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II, meaning that international trade in this species is controlled, and export permits may be required.

Fan aloe is cultivated as an ornamental. The gel has wound-healing properties, and in some areas in South Africa it is used in a drink to stimulate the immune system. The gel is also reported to be used to treat diabetes. Scientific analysis of the gel has resulted in the isolation of glucomannan, a polysaccharide which may have a role in its wound-healing effects.

Kew’s Africulture Centre project aims to promote sustainable management of botanical resources for food, medicine, craft and other economically beneficial activities in an area near Grahamstown, South Africa. It is estimated that about 80% of the black Africans living in this community rely solely on traditional medicines. Because of the increased incidence of disease and the fact that the population of Grahamstown has more than doubled in the last 15 years, the demand for traditional medicines has increased and there is no sustainable supply of species traditionally used as medicine and for food.

In this Darwin Initative-funded project, Kew is working with Garden Africa and Umthathi, an NGO in Grahamstown, to develop a nursery garden which is propagating some of the key endangered species. Umthathi has established a local network of traditional healers to identify the species they would like to have propagated on the 10 hectare plot that was secured for the creation of the Centre. Kew works with Garden Africa and other partners in South Africa to support the propagation of selected species and to develop good quality plant-based products that can be made by these communities to mitigate the effects of opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis, psoriasis and oral thrush.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership aims to save plant life world wide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.

Description of seeds: Average 1,000 seed weight = 5.34 g.
Number of seed collections stored in the Millennium Seed Bank: Two.
Germination testing: 100% germination was achieved on a 1% agar medium, at a temperature of 15°C, and a cycle of 8 hours daylight/16 hours darkness.

In Britain, Aloe plicatilis requires protection from frost, and is best grown in good, well-drained soil under glass or, when young, in a container outside. Propagation is by seed or branch cuttings taken in spring.

Fan aloe can be seen growing in the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew.

Preserved specimens of fan aloe are held in Kew’s Herbarium, where they are available to researchers by appointment. The details of an alcohol-preserved specimen can be seen online in the Herbarium Catalogue.

A specimen of Aloe plicatilis is held in Kew’s Economic Botany Collection, where it is available for study by appointment.

Search Kew's databases for more information on this species

PlantZAfrica – Aloe plicatilis

The South African National Biodiversity Institute's plant information website

Kew’s Africulture Centre project

Garden Africa: South Africa – Umthathi Africulture Project

Curtis’s Botanical Magazine (Wiley-Blackwell)