reminds me of Aloe aculeata.

I was going to guess Aloe marlothi. There are similar. The blue green makes me think marlothi. Most of the A. aculeata that I have seen have been more greener green. But hey, I find this confusing to. When I google I only confuse myself. In aloe aculeata, the spines spring from tuberculate white base bumps. That is not the case in your foto. So I am sticking with my guess of A. marlothii. Also , in the states, Aloe marlothii is much more common an aloe to find in nurseries.

Here is a picture of my small Aloe aculeata that shows the white bumps and the green color. True the green color might be indicative of a cultural factor. This might help you to compare.

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What bothers me is that the aloe has the look of a tree aloe, in other words Aloe marlothii may be an option but also Aloe ferox, which makes more sense I guess.

Both Aloe aculeata & Aloe petricola have some similar look but they should turn earlier, unless its a hybrid. By the way not all aculeata have the white base at the thorns.

So yeah, Aloe marlothii or ferox is the more probable answer.

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Aloe petricola
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Aloe marlothii
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Maybe this is closer? Aloe ferox

I cannot post the pic I want to, but do a bit of googling!

I certainly appreciate your help with this...I guess the lesson here is to never buy an unlabeled plant ! ;-)
I have googled all the suggestions and I swear that it could be any of these. On the bright side, you guys have helped me narrow my choices down considerably.
Thank you!

I was going to say Aloe marlothii, but mine has more thorns than the one in question...

Christopher

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Seedmoney,

I'd encourage you to rethink that thinking of not buying an unlabeled plant; unless a name is a requirement, one might miss out on lots of plants, starting with the one in question (which I personally believe to be A. marlothii). I grow the plant for the plant, not the name (which, IMO, is nice to have but not absolutely necessary, unless you're trying to complete a collection). Yes, it's personal preference, but you'll very well may miss out on plants that you'd later think 'I wish I had bought that unlabeled one'. Names are much easier to get than some plants are. And, FWIW, I would have bought your Aloe in a flash - spines and greenery, who could ask for anything more?

Young plants look different than mature / older ones, in many cases.

Here's my A. marlothii - it's much to small to be flowering yet but there are posters here who have flowering A.m. plants - if you do a search for Aloes I think you'll find them.

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Also in this world of mislabeling, one could go out and buy what my favorite nursery says is an aloe Ferox and really be taking home an Aloe Marlothi. I have been telling them that their grower has them mislabeled. I was doing this to some Opuntia leocotricha they were selling as Opuntia micrdasys last year. they finally have changed them over. I am still very tempted to buy their extremely healthy and large aloe with an an dentity problem.

The process of IDing can be confusing and is worthwhile especially with Aloes and our living on the edge of their hardiness zones. Some will melt quickly on a mild cold front and others can stand quite a bit more. For me, it is good to know which ones to move first.

Here is my more mature Aloe Ferox for comparison. These aloes change their look as they get older and I think there is deviation amongst the species and purity of seed issues also. This Ferox is very smooth except for the thorns at the yip on the center of the back of the leaves, and a few below. Aloe Marlothi seems to be a real warthog as it grows older. So it might be just a wait and see in which direction it grows. Alow reitzi also looks like a ferox but not a marlothi. Sometimes, during moments of doubt, I think my Ferox is a Retzii.

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My A. ferox - 'candelabrum-form', and I think you have a A. ferox above as well - nice looking plant - all of them look great guys.

Another suggestion is to go to aridlands site and look at their babies. they will show different aloes at different ages. It might be an eye opener. They have plants at 3". 5", 0ne gallon and above. Not of all species but some.It is a good reference of how young aloes look.

For some reason the pics did not load..
Wantonarama, here is a ferox in the field
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Another smaller version - still lots of growing to do..
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And here is my Aloe ferox candelabrum
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pics looked like they loaded to me. They strike fear into my heart. I will need to make a big green house soon. I wonder if they bonsai.Thats a joke. I need to finish my house that is for sure. A PLace to roll them into on cold snaps. right now it is a unheated wood shop.

Things look like they will be really squished in your yard once things get to size. I guess that is what shovels are for.

Do not worry - will take its time to grow...my aloes are tasting proper soil for the first time and they love it, they really grew much faster, in terms of aloes, but still loooooong way to go, they do not grow nearly as fast in pots.

As for the last pic, I tried to plan short and long term, ferox should eventually outgrow the lot, plectranthus will then be allowed underneath, Crassula tetragona will form a bush on the spot and the lampranthus is already a full grown bush.The aloe striatula is supposed to grow on the fence.See, I planned! LOL! nothing like a pair of clippers to keep everything on track..

I do have contend with strong ocean winds, we had 80-100km/h winds yesterday, which means I need to cover the soil/sandy, which is where things like lampranthus, delosperma become important.