Species library › Aloe › Aloe squarrosa
Succulents Partly documented

Aloe squarrosa

A small, sprawling to hanging Aloe endemic to Socotra, where it grows on limestone cliffs and rocky escarpments. Its green, white-spotted leaves curve sharply backwards and stay only near the stem tips. Its flowers are orange-red with green tips. It is rare in cultivation and is often confused with the Kenyan Aloe juvenna, which has straight, triangular leaves kept along the whole stem.

Aloe squarrosa
Photo: Abu Shawka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

Limestone cliff faces and steep rocky slopes, where plants hang from crevices. Collectors recorded it on a steep north-facing limestone escarpment, in rocky limestone slopes on the Ma'ala plateau, and near the summit of Jebel Qadama on a limestone plateau cut by gullies with Jatropha, Gnidia and Pulicaria scrub. Goat grazing threatens it away from cliffs.

Herbarium and living collections record about 350–700 m in the limestone uplands south and southeast of Qalansiyah, western Socotra.

Socotra

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Aloe squarrosa? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.