Aloe pearsonii is very distinctive and unusual species of Aloe

Aloe

Aloe , also Aloë, is a genus containing about 500 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe"....

, that is naturally endemic to the arid Richtersveld

Richtersveld

The Richtersveld is a mountainous desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat sandy plains, to craggy sharp mountains of volcanic rock and the lushness of the Orange River, which...

 area, on the border between South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

.

It is classified as endangered on the IUCN's Red Data List.

Appearance

This Aloe grows a clump of erect stems that are covered in four thick, very symmetrical rows of re-curved leaves. In the dryer months the plants are red, while during times of rain the leaves fatten and turn blue-green. Though slow-growing, the plants have been known to reach heights of over 2 meters.

Pearson's Aloe flowers in summer, producing a multi-branched inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 covered in bright red or yellow flowers.

Naming and classification

Aloe pearsonii is often considered part of a group of southern African "Creeping Aloes" together with closely related species Aloe perfoliata

Aloe perfoliata

Aloe perfoliata is a hardy creeping aloe, found in rocky, mountainous areas throughout the Western Cape, South Africa.-Naming and classification:Aloe perfoliata was formerly known as Aloe mitriformis...

, Aloe arenicola

Aloe arenicola

Aloe arenicola is a spotted creeping aloe, indigenous to the arid west-coast of South Africa...

, Aloe meyeri and Aloe dabenorisana.
However, other botanists believe it to be closer to the "Climbing Aloes" (Macrifoliae

Aloe ser. Macrifoliae

Aloe ser. Macrifoliae is a taxonomic series within the genus Aloe, comprising seven closely related species of Southern African climbing aloe. These aloes are typically multi-branched climbing or sprawling shrubs, with long spindly stems and a large woody base on the ground...

). This unusual plant would be an outlier whichever series it was classified into, and is probably a "missing-link" intermediate between the two series.
The name "pearsonii" remembers the botanist and first director of the South African National Botanical Institute, Professor Pearson.