Aloe prostrata (previously Lomatophyllum prostratum) is a species of Aloe indigenous to Antsiranana Province (Ankarana), Madagascar. Here it grows in shady forests overlying limestone.
Description This species is low-growing, non-caulescent rosette, with long (15-20mm), narrow (1.5-2mm), curved, dark-green leaves. The dark leaves have many pale, confluent spots and small (3mm) marginal teeth. The plant is mildly stoloniferous, and can form clumps. The flowers are red, and are born on a simple, cylindrical inflorescence. The fruits are long-lasting berries.Perrier de la Bathie, H. (1926). Les Lomatophyllum et les Aloe de Madagascar. Mém. Soc. Linn. Normandie, Bot. 1: 1–58.
Aloe prostrata subsp. pallida The subspecies pallida can be distinguished by its pallid colour. It has both paler leaves (light-green) and paler flowers (pinkish or yellow).
Relatives It is part of a group of aloes which all bear fleshy berries, and were therefore classed as a separate group, Lomatophyllum.Rowley, G.D. (1997). The berried Aloes: Aloe section Lomatophyllum. Excelsa 17: 59–62. Within this group it is closely related to the solitary, faintly lineate species Aloe zombitsiensis. Teissier, M. & Lavranos, J.J. (2004). Sur l’identité de Aloe prostrata (H. Perrier) L.E. Newton & G.D. Rowley (Lomatophyllum prostratum H.Perrier) et sujets apparentés. Succulentes 2004(3): 14–20.
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