Scientific: Aloidendron dichotomum (formerly Aloe dichotoma)
Common: quiver tree, kokerboom
Family: Asphodelaceae (formerly Xanthorrhoeaceae)
Origin: Southern Africa, specifically in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, and parts of Southern Namibia. Throughout its range this taxon is in decline.
Pronounciation: A-lo-i-DEN-dron die-ko-TOE-mum
Hardiness zones
Sunset 12 and 13 with protection, 16-24
USDA 9-11
Landscape Use: In Phoenix, quiver tree is a great accent plant for mixed canopied xeric gardens with protection from western sun, container plant.
Form & Character: Upright, stiff when young, fully branched and arborescent, tough, stately when mature.
Growth Habit: Evergreen, succulent, herbaceous perennial that is arborescent in habit growing a central stem that grows slowly to 20-feet tall, although usually smaller in Phoenix due to the extreme summer heat. Quiver tree has smooth branches that are covered with a thin white-colored powder that increases stem albedo. Older trunks on mature specimens have golden brown scales with extremely sharp (Danger! Danger!) edges.
Foliage/texture: Succulent, glaucous blue-green, strap-shaped leaves to 24-inches long are arranged in terminal rosettes, except juvenile specimens have leaves that are ranked in vertical rows; coarse texture.
Flowers & fruits: Yellow flowers on short stalks, sometimes branched, attract hummingbirds. Young flower buds are edible and have an appearance and taste similar to asparagus; fruits are glaucous green capsules.
Seasonal color: Yellow flowers during spring.
Temperature: Quiver tree is cold hardy to 20oF, but suffers heat damage when summer temperatures exceed 115oF.
Light: Light filtered shade or protection from western afternoon sun is best.
Soil: Tolerant, prefers sandy to gravelly soils, must be well drained.
Watering: Infrequent irrigations during the summer, some irrigations during winter depending on frequency of winter rains.
Pruning: None, except removal of senescent flower stalks and foliage.
Propagation: Primarily seed (sandy substrate at around 70oto 75oF), stem cuttings difficult.
Disease and pests: None in outdoor landscapes if soil drainage is good. Otherwise, root rot if soils drainge is poor. Aphids and scale are common problems if grown indoors or in greenhouses.
Additional comments: Quiver tree is a spectacular, but very uncommon arborescent succulent that is difficult to propagate and culture outdoors in Phoenix because it requires protection from the afternoon sun during summer to survive. Its slow growth rate and relative difficulty to propagate makes it hard to find and also quite expensive ($$$) to purchase.
Taxonomic tidbits: The species name dichotomum refers to the dichotomous branching pattern (forked branches like deer antlers) of the stems. The genus name was changed from Aloe to Aloidendron in 2013.
