In a region that naturally receives only a few inches of rainfall per year, this water shedding effect can easily double, triple, or even quadruple the effective moisture delivered to the plants. But the largest contributing factor to the survival of Aloe ramosissima seedlings may well be the simple fact that impervious rocks shed precious rainwater and concentrate it in the root zones of the plants that call the crevices home. Part of this is due to the fact that the rocks provide protection to small seedlings, sheltering them from the worst aspects of hot sun, cold winter nights, and animal depredation. Even though soil volume and root space may be lacking in rocky clefts between granitic boulders, many plants perform better here than in deeper and sandier soils only a few meters away. Aloe ramosissima clearly favors growing in rocky terrain, and sometimes occupies narrow clefts in rocky outcrops of local granite, quartzite, and ancient sandstones. Aloe ramosissima calls this torrid landscape home. The Orange River forms the international border between South Africa and Namibia in this part of the African continent. As one might expect with plants that attain significant mature sizes, Aloe ramosissima develops a distinctive character, and each individual will appear unique with age. Aloe ramosissima is one of these endemic succulents, as is the red Aloe gariepensis. The Richtersveld region is home to numerous species of succulents, a large proportion of which are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else in the wild. The orange and reddish tinted aloes in the background are Aloe gariepensis, which will be covered more later in this post. Despite the low annual precipitation of the Richtersveld, the region has a rather high level of biological diversity, especially when taken together with adjacent regions in South Africa and Namibia to the north and south of the Orange River Valley. It is very arid, with generally not more than 4 to 5 inches (100-125 mm) of annual rainfall in most zones. The region where Aloe ramosissima is found is referred to as the Richtersveld. Their restricted natural range makes them potentially vulnerable to various environmental and human factors, including climate change, overgrazing by livestock, and diamond mining.
These remarkable plants are not particularly common anywhere, and populations are low and widely scattered. Its range is centered on the valleys surrounding the mouth of the Orange River on both sides of the borderlands between South Africa and Namibia. Aloe ramosissima is endemic to the Richtersveld region of the Northern Cape Province of western South Africa. With age, Aloe ramosissima plants can easily form hundreds of small branches on a sessile trunk-like base, which develops into a dense and rounded crown of up to around two meters tall. The specific epithet of “ramosissima” means “highly branched”, referring to the most obvious characteristic of the species. For the purposes of this album, however, I will stick with the original Latin name of Aloe ramosissima since it is widely familiar to aloe enthusiasts. The name A loidendron literally translates to “aloe tree” and has been applied to about a half dozen of the larger, more arborescent species in the family. I believe that the species has been recently reclassified into the genus Aloidendron, to reflect some taxonomic changes in the large and diverse aloe family. Let’s get started! Aloe ramosissima, sometimes called the maiden’s quiver tree, is an uncommon shrub-forming aloe of far northwestern South Africa. As I combed through archival photos of the trip, I added a half dozen other aloe species endemic to the Richtersveld region, where A. In honor of me having procured and planted three different 15-gallon pots of Aloe ramosissima here at D:F Ranch, I decided to craft a post on them in habitat using photos I took on my September 2009 trip to South Africa, which was my first time in that nation.
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