Aloe comosa

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Common Names

Description

Family Aloaceae

Trees , shrubs , and succulents, perennial , simple to sparsely branched, rhizomatous , some tuberous-thickened. Leaves simple, alternate, usually crowded at bases of stems or ends of branches, sessile; blade fleshy , margins often prickly, venation parallel. Inflorescences terminal , axillary , or lateral , spicate , racemose, or paniculate . Flowers 3-merous, short- to long-pedicellate, rarely sessile; perianth red, brown, yellow, orange, or whitish; tepals petaloid , connivent or connate basally to almost entirely into tube , sometimes fleshy; stamens sometimes 3, usually 6, exserted or included ; anthers dorsifixed , dehiscence antrorse ; pollen grains monosulcate; ovary 3-carpellate, placentation axile , usually with septal nectaries; style terminal; stigmas punctate , discoid , or 3-lobed. Fruits capsular , rarely baccate , dehiscence loculicidal, apical. Seeds usually winged or flattened.

Genera 5, species ca. 700 (1 genus, 2 species in the flora ) : all introduced ; Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, and Atlantic islands.

Aloaceae are closely related to and included by some authors in Liliaceae.

The juice of some Aloe species is used to make a purgative called bitter aloe; active ingredients include aloin and other anthraquinones . Additionally, the thick, mucilaginous gel of some species is widely used to treat minor thermal burns , itching, and sunburn.[1]

Genus Aloe

Plants succulent, shrubby or arborescent , scapose . Stems erect , clambering or ascending , branched or not. Leaves succulent, crowded, often rosulate or distichous; blade margins spiny-toothed or entire. Inflorescences axillary or terminal , paniculate to more often racemose, dense, bracteate . Flowers usually nodding ; perianth red to yellow; tepals connate basally to almost entirely into tube ; stamens 3 or 6; style slender; pedicel not articulate . Capsules papery to woody. x = 7.

Species 300 or more: introduced ; primarily s and tropical Africa; also Madagascar, Arabian peninsula, and Atlantic islands (Madeira , Canary, and Cape Verde) ; naturalized in the Mediterranean region, India, and China.[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Ecology: It occurs in karroid scrub .[3]

Biology

Growth

Culture: Space 18-24" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Marl. & A.Berger Publication : Bot. Jahrb. Syst. xxxviii. 86.An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Aloe

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 1188 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

A. aageodonta · A. abhaica · A. abyssicola · A. abyssinica · A. acinacifolia · A. aculeata (Red Hot Poker Aloe) · A. acuminata · A. acutissima (Aloe) · A. acutissima var. antanimorensis (Aloe) · A. adigratana · A. aethiopica · A. affinis (Aloe) · A. africana (Uitenhage Aloe) · A. africana f. variegata · A. agavefolia · A. agrophila · A. ahmarensis · A. albicans · A. albida · A. albida × haworthioides · A. albida x saundersii · A. albiflora (White-Flowered Aloe) · A. albiflora x littoralis · A. albispina · A. albocincta · A. albopicta · A. albovestita · A. aldabrense · A. aldabrensis · A. alexandrei · A. alfredii · A. alooides (Aloe) · A. altilinea · A. altimatsiatrae · A. amanensis · A. ambigens · A. ambrensis · A. americana · A. amicorum · A. ammophila · A. amoena · A. amudatensis (Aloe) · A. andohahelensis · A. andongensis (Aloe) · A. andongensis var. repens · A. andringitrensis (Aloe) · A. angelica (Aloe) · A. angiensis · A. angolensis · A. angulata · A. angusta · A. angustifolia · A. anivoranoensis · A. ankaranensis · A. ankoberensis · A. antandroi · A. antandroy · A. antonii · A. antoninii · A. antsingyensis · A. arabica · A. arachnoidea · A. arachnoides · A. arborea · A. arborescens (Candelabra Plant) · A. arborescens blue-leaved · A. arborescens 'Compton' · A. arborescens early-flowering · A. arborescens 'Eloff' · A. arborescens 'Frutescens' · A. arborescens 'Gold Rush' · A. arborescens 'Huntley' · A. arborescens 'Jack Marais' · A. arborescens 'John Winter' · A. arborescens late-flowering · A. arborescens 'Mathews' · A. arborescens Mill. var. frutescens (Salm-Dyck) Link · A. arborescens Mill. var. milleri A.Berger · A. arborescens 'Pearson' · A. arborescens 'Philip le Roux' · A. arborescens 'Rycroft' · A. arborescens 'Variegata' · A. arborescens × ferox · A. arborescens yellow-flowered · A. archeri · A. arenicola (Aloe) · A. argenticauda · A. argyrostachys · A. aristata (Guinea Fowl Aloe) · A. aristata 'Cathedral Peak' · A. aristata x gasteria · A. armatissima · A. aspera · A. asperifolia (Aloe) · A. asperiuscula · A. asperula · A. atherstonei · A. atrovirens · A. attenuata · aloe attenuata x shawii 'Blue Glow'

More Info

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Further Reading

• Botanisches Zentralblatt; referierendes Organ für das Gesamtgebiet der Botanik. Jena [etc.]G. Fischer [etc.] GER url p. 186.
• Hilton-Taylor, C. 1996. Red Data List of southern African plants. Strelitzia 4. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
• Just's botanischer jahresbericht. Systematisch geordnetes repertorium der botanischen literatur aller länder. Berlin, Gebr. Borntraeger, 1874-98; GER url p. 390.
• Van Wyk, B.-E. and Smith, G. 1996. Guide to the Aloes of South Africa. Briza Publications Arcadia.
• Moran, R. 1992. Aloe wild in California. Cact. Succ. J. (Los Angeles) 64: 55-56.
• Reynolds, G. W. 1982. The Aloes of South Africa, ed. 4. Rotterdam.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby FA, Roskov YR, Orrell TM, Nicolson D, Paglinawan LE, Bailly N, Kirk PM, Bourgoin T, van Hertum J, eds (2008). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist Taxonomic Classification. CD-ROM; Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Hilton-Taylor, C. 1998. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008.
• World Checklist of Selected Plant Families

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5767192
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-297247
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14975446
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:529337-1
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 529337-1
• IUCN ID: 31014
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 717078

Footnotes

1. Walter C. Holmes & Heather L. White "Aloaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 12, 15, 18, 20, 410. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Aloe". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 410. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. Hilton-Taylor, C. 1998. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008. [back]

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