Aloe juvenna

Aloe juvenna clump in cultivation

Aloe juvenna clump in cultivation

It has long been common in cultivation, but its origin was not known. The first recorded cultivated specimens were in South Africa, but although there were rumours that it had come from Kenya, its origins were a mystery even then. It was first believed to be a juvenile Aloe, due to its small size, and it was labelled "juvenna" ("juvenile") for this reason. However that label eventually became its formal name. Later, it was thought to be a hybrid perhaps of Aloe distans with Haworthia coarctata or a species of Astroloba.

It underwent genetic testing in the 1970s and, when it was discovered that Aloe juvenna had a doubled set of chromosomes (tetraploidy), it came to seem more likely that this Aloe came from East Africa, where most other tetraploid Aloes originate. The name Aloe juvenna was finally published as a valid species name in 1979. Finally, in 1982, an expedition in the far south west of Kenya discovered a few plants on a tiny rocky mountainous ridge, high about tropical rainforest. The existence of these plants in such a remote locality confirmed that the species was a natural one. However, how it originally came to be brought into cultivation in the first place, remains a mystery.[2][3]