How & why is my Aloe growing a pup up on its flower stem?

It is what I think is a maculata Aloe, being definitely spotted, w/ basically green leaves, & sharp teeth.

On the leaf tops the spots are irregular, but underneath they form stripes across the width of each leaf.

Anyway, I noticed that this same thing happened last year, but not sure if it was from the same maculata Aloe, as I have the tow planted next to each other where it first occurred in my yard. I have two . . . this one with a pointed inflorescence, and the other one with sort of an umbrella shaped inflorescence. (The latter one has irregular spots underneath its leaves, istead of spots grouped in stripes.)

Anyway, this 'pup' occurs 18-19 inches up the inflorescence stem, at the base of where the flowers were. All the other inflorescence stems have dried up in all of the clumps, though not enough to pull out easily. This one, however, remains succulent, with the 8 leafed pup having as its largest leaf, one of approx. 1.75 inches length. For now, it is supporting it. I guess I'll leave it on this time, to see what happens as it gets bigger.

Is there a name for this oddity? Is there a known reason for it?
I've had it happen twice in two/three years, so it can't be too unheard of . . . can it?

I've seen this happen with American Agave, but, never heard of it happening with Aloes.

Sorry, I have no way at this time to post a picture of it, at least that I know of.
The replacement computer is unfortunately *not* the same as my old one!
(Which I still had a lot to learn about.):

Thank You for any insight to satisfy my curiosity! (;

Aloes can make plantlets on the flower stem (called bulbils) and they can also branch from there (new stem starts from near the base of the inflorescence). I would be curious to see a picture of your plant. You can pot up the bulbils and within a few weeks they will grow roots.

This message was edited Jun 18, 2013 6:42 PM

Here's a picture of the only Aloe I have with a plantlet off a former flower stalk (it's small on the right side of main plant) and I have lots of aloes. This one also it getting new plants from the roots as you can see a smaller one coming next to the big one. I don't know what this Aloe is, any ideas anyone? It turns a very pretty purplish color in the cold.

Bulbils on a bumpy aloe. These are really easy to propagate because they change color when they sprout roots (from purple to green).

Wow, that is a beauty Baja! Never seen that on one of the new hybrids before!

This is the second time it's happened to that aloe, out of maybe 6 inflorescences. So it's not every time. Who knows how it decides. The aloe also sprouts offsets above and below ground, rather prolifically.

I have to say I have only seen this happen on hybrid aloes or the species Aloe bulbolifera which does this every time it flowers (though the peduncle (inflorescence stalk) on Aloe bulbolifera is covered with small plantets after flowering- not just a single plantlet. So it is not an unheard of reproduction strategy in Aloe species, but it's pretty rare. Not sure what makes this happen in hybrid aloes, but I suspect there is either some Aloe aristata or some Gasteria in many of these hybrids. (though not seen this happen in Gasteria species, either). Aloe aristata x Gasteria commonly make these plantlets, though getting them to root has been difficult. It happens so frequently in this hybrid that I suspect one of the parents may do this normally... though I cannot recall seeing it ever happen in Aloe aristata.... I struggle a bit with this Aloe species in my cllmate, so I have not seen enough go to flower to know.

The aristata clone growing here flowers a lot (too much -- seems to exhaust the plant) but has never made bulbils. One of the Gasterias has made them, but they're pretty unimpressive and seem to abort early.

Here is a shot of my Gasteraloe from A aristasta stock... see the bulbils (closer to the camera). Also, below is shot of Aloe bulbolifera showing plant lets on stalks of old inflouresences.

I have one, too. It looks a lot like my A. Christmas carol, but had no tag when I bought it.

Bump!
I have an extremely happy Green Ice gasteraloe that is now 15" across and produced 9 bulbils last spring. The stems died down to the top of the bulbils and I trimmed off the dead stems. Then I waited for roots to appear so I could plant them up. I'm still waiting. . . .
It's been 6 months and the stinkers keep growing leaves but no roots at all. They do not fall off when I give them a gentle tug.
Any thoughts?

Hi-
I have detached plantlets and just lay them on the surface, then they lay there a while (often a month or much more!) but eventually take root.
I have a book about propagation of succulents. It says in the wild these will continue to grow until the weight causes the stalk to bend, then the plantlet will make roots when it contacts the ground.
They say you can remove it and just plant it if the stalk withers, or if you want to plant it and it is big enough to handle. No callous time is needed.
I suppose you could try "air layering" as well but with succulents this could maybe cause rot (speculation).
Since you have several, maybe you could try a few ways, then report back which worked best?

Thank You. I think I'll remove a few from the stem and trim a few with a bit of stem remaining and let them callous then shallow plant. They are winter growers so I need to get them going here in Phx.