PlantFiles: Aloe
Aloe 'Medusa'

Now that I know what I'm looking for, I dont' think this plant is nearly as rare as I assumed it was.. have seen it for sale at a number of nurseries, often mistakenly identified as aloe barberae or bainsii. But it is a thinner-trunk, more higly branching and MUCH slower growing aloe with leaves that look a lot like those of an anemic Aloe barberae (thin and even more rubbery, if that is possible). I have noticed only a modicum of cold hardiness over Aloe barberae (both were severely damaged in last year's freeze, though Aloe barberae was 'more defoliated' than this one was). Flowers are distinctly different with the inflorescences arising at the top of the plant (as opposed to within the leaves of Aloe barberae) and often on peduncles up to 2' tall (very un-barberae-like) and flowers themselves are pale orange-yellow and almost spherical in sillouhete, not fat and tubular and deep orange-red like Aloe barberae.

I bought it as A.bainsaii..soon realized it wasn't..a few years later thought Aloe 'Hercules'..now,it seems to be Aloe 'medusa'..but, mine and the one posted by Palmbob in his journal do not look like the photos posted by Thistlesifter. Mine does not have curved downwards or criss crossed leaves.They are stiffly upright. The midwinters flowers seem to be identical.The trunk is strikingly striated,accentuated when wet.
Aloe "medusa" seems to do better on regular summer irrigation and feeding also. That's un- barbarae like. A.medusa is also much more cold tolerant than barbarae,taking occasional temps into the 20's in stride.Those lows would melt A.barbarae.
Watch for aphid or mealys that get into the leaf bases. Ants are the tipoff of bad things going on. A strong jet of water is about all you need to cure that.
This is a great tree Aloe in looks,behaviour, and stays in scale with the average urban-suburban, yard.
EDIT: Palmbobs newest photo of 'medusa" isnt anything like mine.Mine has stiff leafs like his 'Hercules' post. I -and not kidding-think i have a third hybrid unnamed. It has the look of Hercules,the height of medusa. Mine does have the thick striated bark of Hercules..the flowers are medusa like,only on shorter petioles.Palmbobs medusa is much more barberae like than mine. And i have barberae too.
EDIT no.2!: I'm almost 100% sure i have Medusa..thanks to palmbob and Kevin Conner. The confusion is the many differing traits individual plants might have..Mine doesnt have the tendency so far,to branch heavily,but the flowers and stocky size..is all Medusa.

Seed from this plant first became available (in U.S.) as a CSSA release ISI 2005-8. Aloe barberae.

Has anybody sought out the IOS botanist description of this plant. It is was reported that Dr. Hutchison's papers describing the plant and its locale, were turned over to the Huntington at or before his death. I think if one was serious and scientific about knowing anything, rather than publishing speculative rumors they would try to get a copy of the description. . Also, perhaps is a way to get the CSSA journal to publish Dr. Hutchison's description.

The clone in my collection has produced fruit in the dead of winter the last two years. These have to be harvested before fully ripe. I've gotten weak germination from the ripe seeds, but have not gotten a seedling through more that 4 months. These were pollinated with dichotama. It's fruit is much less perishable and hardy that that of dichotama. My flowering dichotama is the pollen donor. Don't know if the "medusa' "selfs" or not.

Huntington Succulent Gardens has several of the Mozmbique form of Bainsii and the description documentation written by IOS Botanist, Paul Hutchison (now disceased), where he had assigned a name to this unique form "aloe medusa".


This a beautiful dwarf form (said to grow a to maximum height of 3M) of the more available - massive and also beautiful Aloe barbarae described by Dyer that grows to heights exceeding 6M.