This resulted in several new species being described. His father was interested in gardening and enthusiastically collected and grew succulents at his Rosebank residence from where he communicated his collections to N.E. He went to England to train in agriculture at the University of Cambridge, but never graduated due to ill health. Mr Neville Stuart Pillans (1884–1964) from Rosebank, Cape Town was the only son of the agriculturist and horticulturist Eustace Pillans (1850–1919). An alternate common name sometimes seen but deemed politically incorrect and insulting is bastard quiver tree which makes reference to the Richtersveld region being one of the ‘baster states' (racially mixed people) of South Africa that was populated by biracial descendants of the indigenous African people and European settlers. The common name comes from a translation of the Afrikaans name `reuse kokerboom' which translates as giant quiver tree, alluding to its grotesque size and the hollowed stems of a related species ( Aloidendron dichotoma ) that were used to make quivers for arrows. Pillans, the well-known Cape botanist who first collected it at Cornell's Kop in the Richtersveld. The species was named by South African botanist Louise Guthrie (1879-1966) in 1928 to honor Neville S. Aloe is derived from the Arabic, `Alloch' and translated as `Allal' in Greek and Hebrew, literally meaning bitter or bitter sap, referring to aloe sap. The genus name Aloidendron is a combination of Aloe and dendron - the latter referring to their tree like habit. Flowering starts from late spring in late September and the spherical capsules that ripen from December split open into three parts to release the papery seeds that are dispersed by wind. The racemes are up to 150mm long and carry up to 30 yellow flowers at a time. ramosissimum which carry their inflorescences in an erect fashion above the top of the leaf rosettes. The inflorescence that develops from in-between the lowest leaves hangs down separating it from A. pillansii is approximately 0.5m long which spreads out somewhat horizontally carrying the upward turning racemes of up to 50 branches. The two aloes also flower at different times of the year. dichotomomum has narrower, darker leaves and upright inflorescences. dichotomomumthough the former has broader and paler leaves with pendant yellow flowers while A. Leaf margins have small white teeth of 1-2mm long and 5-8mm apart. Young leaves have a glaucous appearance which is also quite distinctive in comparison to closely-related species. Leaves are densely rosulate (arranged in a rosette), curved, lance-shaped and tapering gradually, 500-600×100-120mm, and grey-green to brownish-green having a smooth surface above and below. The bark at the base is a yellowish to brownish golden colour and peels away as the plant gets older leaving sharp edges along the lower half of the stem. The stem is covered with a white powdery substance which is particularly visible in younger specimens. Stems in old specimens have swollen bottle-shaped trunks that support the tall branches. The few to many branches are smooth, erect or slightly divergent. Trees reach a stem height of 10m or more and a stem diameter ranging from 1-2m at the base narrowing to about 0.2m at the tip.Ĭharacteristically, these trees branch dichotomously (forking regularly into two equal branches) from approximately midway up the length of the stem. From afar, they take the appearance of mysterious kings guarding the barren desert landscape and on close inspection their beautifully fissured golden bark, white pillar-like stems and pale green leaf crowns reveal a beauty that can only be appreciated in its natural habitat. Aloidendron pillansii is a succulent tree that is impressively sculptured by time and the elements of the desert.
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