Spiral symmetry

A few years ago, I had the privilege of meeting and working with Moliko Lekhera, an agricultural exchange worker from the Kingdom of Lesotho. Lesotho is the small landlocked country that is entirely surrounded by the nation of South Africa.

It is often referred to as “the roof of Africa” because of its mountainous terrain. One day, I hope to visit Moliko and take part in two of my passions in life, fishing, and plank geekery! Lesotho boasts some of the best trout fishing in the world. The cold, mountainous streams are the home of native rainbow and brown trout. While I’m fishing, I’ll be able to see one of my all-time favorite plants in its native habitat, Aloe polyphylla.

Aloe polyphylla, or spiral aloe is a rare and beautiful aloe that is native to the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho. In fact, it does not occur naturally anywhere else in the world outside of Lesotho with the possible exception of the Drakensburg Mountains of South Africa. I happen to have a specimen growing at my home in Albany, Oregon, that was part of a crop of Aloe polyphylla we grew at Little Prince several years ago. I also saw some beautiful specimens growing in Dan Hinkley’s Windcliff garden on the Puget Sound when I visited last November with garden designer Jerry Fritz.

The spiral symmetry of Aloe polyphylla is indeed striking. Nature has a special affinity for spirals. Our galaxy and billions of other galaxies in the universe is a spiral galaxy. The shells of many mollusks, such as the Queen Conch, Strombus gigas have spiral symmetry. In the case of the Queen Conch, almost all specimens spiral to the right, or are dextral. Very rarely one will spiral to the left. The term used to describe a left spiral is “sinistral.” In the case of Aloe polyphylla, there are commonly both dextral and sinistral plants. The Italian mathematician Fibonacci, who gave us our base 10 Hindu-Arabic numeral system also first described the spiral in terms of a mathematical sequence called the Fibonacci sequence.

Spiral aloe is often covered by snow during Lesotho’s winter, so it’s quite cold hardy. Mine has seen 17° F and been unfazed. It is growing in well drained soil, which is essential for the plant. I have done nothing thus far to protect it from cold in winter, though I will if temperatures fall below 15° F. It could be grown in a large container and moved into a protected area for winter.

Mark Leichty is the director of business development at Little Prince of Oregon Nursery near Portland. He is a certified plant geek who enjoys visiting beautiful gardens and garden centers searching for rare and unique plants to satisfy his plant lust. mark@littleprinceoforegon.com