This architectural plant can be seen flowering in the Continents Apart House.
Kumara plicatilis is a distinct succulent species belonging to the Asphodelaceae. It can reach 5m in height, and has branched corky stems bearing two opposite ranks of grey-green strap-shaped leaves, and it is from these that the common name fan aloe is derived. Racemes of up to 30 tubular orange-red flowers are produced from each ‘fan’ in winter to spring, and these attract a variety of pollinators, including beetles and sunbirds. K. plicatilis is limited in the wild to the fynbos of the Western Cape, where it grows alongside proteas and ericas in areas of high winter rainfall on steep, rocky, acidic, sandy slopes. The origin of the generic name is unknown, though was assigned by the German botanist Medikus in 1786, and the specific name plicatilis is Latin for pleated, and was applied in reference to the fan-like arrangement of the leaves.