A medium-sized, rosette-forming succulent, up to 1 m tall and 0.8 m wide.
Leaves thin, pale bluish-green, lance-shaped, up to 500 mm long, 150 mm wide, with reddish toothed margins. Inflorescence 3–5 m tall, 5–8 branches, each with dense racemes of peach-red tubular flowers (May–July, winter). Old leaves die back from the tips, turning reddish.
Visually prominent in flowers, providing a spectacle of colour during the dry winter months. Suitable for rockeries, rewilded grassland patches, and water-wise gardens.
The plants are resistant to veld fires and play an important role during the dry winter months, especially soon after fires. This environmental factor maintains grasslands in areas with dry winters and sub-zero temperatures in winter.
They are one of the few sources of fleshy leaves during winter, especially in post-fire landscapes where other soft vegetation is scarce. Their adaptations to avoid being eaten include:
Their ability to survive fires and resist grazing pressure after fire allows them to:
Flowers during the winter months, May-July, produce nectar-rich tubular flowers.
The narrow entrances to the flowers select for long-tongued (like butterflies and sunbirds) or small (allapula, allodapine, or nothylaeus bees, and ants) pollinators, thus increasing the chances that their pollen reaches flowers of other Aloe pretoriensis plants.
Honeybees and other larger pollinators are seen robbing nectar by burrowing through the sides of the flower bases.
You can assess the diversity of the pollinators in your area by the number of seeds set on the aloes. If low proportions of seed are set, either the ecology does not sustain a diversity of insects (e.g., pesticide levels in soils are too high, or a lack of nesting materials for solitary bees), or there are too many honey bees that are outcompeting the abundant diversity of solitary bees.
Seeds: If pollination is successful, capsules form on the rachis, and once ripe, split open to release wind-dispersed seeds.
Ales are a rich source of nectar for sunbirds during winter, during the dry highveld winters.
Seed-eating birds may feed on the capsules, even though the wind-dispersed seeds are not a rich source of nutrients.
Harvest capsules just before the split. If needed, tie a porous bag over the capsules to catch the seeds when the capsules split. Remove seeds from the capsule and store in a dry place.
Sow in warm months, late spring to mid-summer, on coarse sand, lightly cover, keep moist; germinate in 3–4 weeks; transplant after 1–2 months.
Leaf cuttings; allow to dry for about 2 weeks, then dust with fungicide before planting.
Leaves were used for skin lightening and other skin ailments in some communities.
The main use is ornamental.
