Aloe succotrina
The fynbos aloe is a clump-forming aloe endemic to the Cape Peninsula and the mountainous coast east to about Hermanus, where it grows on sandstone cliffs and rocky outcrops out of reach of fynbos fires. It grows and flowers in the cool, wet Cape winter (red flowers June to September, visited by sunbirds) and sits through the hot, dry, windy summer. Grow it as a full-sun, winter-growing Mediterranean succulent rather than a tropical one.
Where it grows wild
Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos: it typically grows high on cliff faces, ledges and rocky outcrops of Table Mountain sandstone, rooted in crevices and pockets of thin, acid, sandy soil. These rocky sites protect it from the fires that regularly sweep the surrounding fynbos. It forms dense clusters of rosettes 1–2 m across.
Few of the 154 wild records carry an elevation. The Cape Peninsula and Kogelberg sites run from near sea level up the mountain slopes and cliffs, so it spans roughly 0 to several hundred metres.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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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 Public domain licence, unmodified.