Aloidendron ‘Goliath’ is a hybrid between Aloidendron barberae and Aloe vaombe, a tree aloe from Madagascar. It is believed to have originated as a garden cross. According to San Marcos Growers, quoted by the Chicago Botanic Garden, the selection was made and named by Don Newcomer of Serra Gardens, the name referring to its robust build.
Description
‘Goliath’ is a very large aloe with a single, unbranched, heavy stem. Sources give a height of 2.4 to 3.7 m (8–12 ft) and a spread of 1.2 to 1.5 m (4–5 ft). The leaves are large, thick and rubbery, curving outward and tapering to a point. Their colour is described differently by different sources: medium to dark green by the Chicago Botanic Garden and by Gerhard Bock, blue-green by some nurseries. The salmon-orange flowers are carried about 60 cm (2 ft) above the foliage in late autumn and winter.
Cold hardiness
‘Goliath’ is frost-tender. San Marcos Growers gives a winter hardiness of 25 to 30 °F (−4 to −1 °C) and says it “seems to be hardy down to at least 25 °F” (−3.9 °C). The Chicago Botanic Garden, quoting the same nursery, says it is “hardy only in USDA zones 9–11”. These figures are reports from California nurseries, not controlled tests, and they refer to short, dry frosts.
The parent A. barberae is itself described as damaged below about −2 °C (28 °F), and A. vaombe, from the south of Madagascar, is also a frost-tender plant, so a markedly better tolerance than A. barberae should not be assumed. In a climate with freezing nights, ‘Goliath’ is a container plant, to be moved into a frost-free place from autumn. Cold combined with wet soil is more dangerous than dry cold: stop watering well before the first frosts.
Cultivation
Full sun, low water needs and a very well-drained soil, dry in summer. ‘Goliath’ grows very fast, and its heavy head on a relatively slender trunk makes it top-heavy. San Marcos Growers advises growing it slowly, by not giving too much water or fertiliser, because the heavy foliage can make older stems break or fall over.
See also
The genus page Aloidendron and the other hybrids, including ‘Hercules’.
References
San Marcos Growers. Aloe ‘Goliath’, Goliath Aloe. https://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=3374
Chicago Botanic Garden. Aloe ‘Goliath’ (Goliath aloe), Plant Finder. https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plant-information/plant-finder/aloe-goliath-goliath-aloe
Bock, G. (2024). The story of Hercules. Succulents and More. https://www.succulentsandmore.com/2024/01/hercules-unveiled.html