Plants small, with fusiform roots. Stems somewhat woody, 10-20 cm long, 2-3 cm diam., usually branched about the middle and forming dense tufts of up to 50 stems to a plant. Leaves 15-20, multifarious, rigidly erect, narrowly linear, 10-25 cm long (when not burnt by grass fires), 3-5 mm broad, basally dilating to 20 mm broad and becoming densely imbricate-amplexicaul; upper surface dull green, canaliculate, not spotted; lower surface convex, usually without spots but sometimes with a few small white spots crowded near base, sometimes obtusely carinate; margins ciliate with minute white cartilaginous firm teeth about |mm long, 2-3 mm distant. Inflorescence simple, one only, up to 25 cm high. Peduncle brownish, flattened low down, terete upwards, about 7 mm, diam., with several sterile bracts which are ovate-acuminate, up to 20 mm long, 10 mm, broad at base, thin, white, sub-scarious, 5-7-nerved. Racemes capitate, about 5 cm, long, 5-7 cm diam., 18-20-flowered, the flowers scarlet, greenish tipped. Bracts half as long as the pedicels, ovate-acuminate, thin sub-scarious with 3 brownish-red nerves. Pedicels lowest 20-25 mm long, the colour of the perianth. Perianth red to scarlet, 30-35 mm, long, cylindric-trigonous slightly ventricose, basally shortly stipitate and tapering into the pedicel; outer segments free almost to base, obscurely 3-5-nerved, the nerves turning greenish at apex, apices sub-acute, rather straight; inner segments broader than the outer, with more obtuse apices, and with a keel the colour of the perianth for its greater length turning green at apex. Filaments pale lemon-yellow, slightly flattened, the 3 inner narrower and lengthening in advance of the 3 outer. Anthers exserted 1-2 mm Style pale lemon-yellow, with the stigma at length exserted up to 5 mm. Ovary 5 mm long, 2 mm diam., finely 6-grooved, green. March to September, depending on grass-fires and rains; June-July appears to be the usual time of flowering, i.e. about 4 weeks after winter grass-fires followed by rains.
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Much-branched short-stemmed grass aloe 200-300 mm tall, forming dense tufts; roots fusiform. Leaves 38-51 cm a rosette, linear, 90-250 x 2-5 mm, canaliculate, dull green, margins dentate. Inflorescence a simple capitate raceme; peduncle 150-250 mm long, with sterile bracts; bracts deltoid-acuminate, 13-17 x 4-5 mm, 3-5-nerved. Flowers yellow to red, 20-35 mm long, cylindric; pedicels 10-25 mm long; segments free almost to base. Anthers exserted up to 2 mm. Ovary green, 5-6 x 2-3 mm; style exserted up to 5 mm. Fruit ±14 x 7 mm.
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