Common Names
Common Names in English:
Aloe, Namaqua Aloe
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
Habit: Evergreen .
Flowers: Bloom Period: December. • Flower Color: bronze, brown, red-orange
Size/Age/Growth
Size: 36-48" tall.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Space 15-18" apart.
Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.5
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.
Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Liliopsida
()
- Scopoli, 1760
- Subclass:
Liliidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Lilianae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Asparagales
()
- Bromhead, 1838
- Suborder:
Asphodelineae
()
- Suborder:
Asphodelineae
(
- Order:
Asparagales
(
- Superorder:
Lilianae
(
- Subclass:
Liliidae
(
- Class:
Liliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : Pillans Publication : in S. Afr. Gard. 1934, xxiv. 25, 28, in adnot.
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
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Hilton-Taylor, C. (compiler) 1998. Assessment of Southern African Trees for WCMC.
- Hilton-Taylor, C. 1996. Red Data List of southern African plants. Strelitzia 4. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
- 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
- Hilton-Taylor, C. 1998. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5767234
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14975831
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:529560-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 529560-1
- IUCN ID: 31015
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 717175
Footnotes
- 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]
- "Aloe". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 410. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
