Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

56 ALOACEAE
Aloe citrina
Description
Fig. 23. Aloe
citrina, from
near Dolo Odo,
Sidamo floristic
region.
3. Aloe citrina Carter & Brandham
The specific epithet ‘citrina’ refers to the lemon­yellow
(citrina) colour of the flo wer. It was described in 1983
with the type material collected from Somalia.
The species belongs to the small group of Ethiopian/
Eritrean aloes (numbers 1–6) with pubescent and papillate
flowers. It is distinguished from the other members of the
group except A. bertemariae by its prominently spotted
leaves, the relatively long pedicels (more than 8 mm long),
and the yellowish to greenish flowers. The grey-green to
greenish yellow flowers and leaves without spines on the
lower parts separates A. citrina from A. bertemariae.
Rosettes stemless, solitary or in small groups. Leaves dense, ca.
16, erect to slightly incurved, 36–60 × 8.5–12 cm, pale grey green
with numerous pale spots often in ± transverse bands, canali­culate.
Marginal teeth 5–9 per 10 cm, 1.5–3 mm long with brown tips.
Inflorescence to 2 m high with 2–6 racemes. Racemes (25–)40–50
cm long, cylindrical-conical, dense (2–5 flowers per cm). Bracts
lanceolate-triangular, 8–14 × 3–3.5 (–4) mm, finely pubescent.
Pedicel 8.5–15 mm long. Perianth similar in form to that of A.
trichosantha, 26–34 mm long, 4–4.5 mm wide when pressed, grey­