Aloe (Aloe)

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Aloe L.

Aloe

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Liliidae	Includes lilies, orchids, and many others
Order	Asparagales	A diverse group that includes asparagus
Family	Xanthorrhoeaceae	Aloes, many tropical plants, flax lilies, daylilies, many others
Genus	Aloe	Means “goddess” in ancient Sanskrit, for its reputed use as a beauty aid; some sources suggest that the name comes from Alloeh, meaning “shining bitter substance”

About plant names...

Surprisingly, aloes are closely related to the lily family. These dry-adapted plants store water in their thick, serrated leaves and produce stunning spikes of brightly colored flowers. Most aloes are natives of southern regions of Africa. The commonly-used medicinal plant, Aloe vera, is one of 450 members of this genus (see this overview by Gary Lyons, curator of the Huntington Desert Gardens). Also check out these aloe photos on Wikimedia Commons. Or check out this list of Aloe common names.

Online References:

Xericworld.com

Wayoflife.net

Wikimedia Commons

Gardening in the Coastal Southeast

References:

van Wyk, Ben-Erik; Smith, Gideon, Guide to the Aloes of South Africa, Briza, 1998

The following tables compare some of the aloes. I haven't yet been able to identify the many aloes that are not shown in the tables.

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California · ≈ 4 × 2½′ (120 × 80 cm) Species not yet identified

	*Aloe alooides*	*Aloe arborescens × ferox*	*Aloe barberae*
Common Name	Graskop aloe	aloe	large tree aloe
Plant	These aloes have a single stem up to 6½′ (2 m) high, the upper part of which is covered with old dried leaves.	No info found.	Up to 49′ (15 m) high and 3′ (90 cm) in diameter. Eventually forms a rounded crown.
Flowers	Photo by Karlostachys. Up to five unbranched, narrow flower spikes occur per plant. Each spike contains yellow flowers up to ⅜″ (1 cm).		Flowerheads are conical, up to 2′ (60 cm) long. Individual flowers are 1-1¼″ (3-3.7 cm) long, and pale yellow, orange-yellow, or salmon-pink; tipped with green.
Leaves	Leaves are green, tinged red during droughts. They are wide and so curved that they often curl back to touch the stem. Leaf margins have small teeth.		Leaves grouped in dense rosettes up to 5′ (1.5 m) in diameter. Leaves are dark green, roughly triangular in cross section but deeply channeled.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9-11
Habitats
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild
Occurrence

	*Aloe broomii*	*Aloe camperi*	*Aloe classenii*
Common Name	berg alwyn	Nubian aloe	Classen’s aloe
Plant	Leaf rosette up to 1′ (30 cm) high; entire plant up to 5′ (1.5 m).	Short stemmed. These aloes have a short stem and reach 1½-3′ (45-91 cm) in height and up to 2′ (60 cm) around. They often form colonies.	6-12″ (15-30 cm) tall.
Flowers	Flowering spike up to 5′ (1.5 m) high, 2½″ (7 cm) around. Flowers are covered by bracts, with only stamens and stigmas peeking through in a band, appearing orange.	Pink to orange and yellow, or uniform salmon orange color. They appear in April to May.	Red, yellow. See photo by Porphyrostachys.
Leaves		Dark green, with white flecks near the stem on the leaf undersides.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 8b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11
Habitats
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild
Occurrence			Critically endangered

	*Aloe confusa*	*Aloe dawei*	*Aloe distans*
Common Name		Dawe’s aloe	jewelled aloe
Plant	Stems are branched, and the branches are interwoven with the main stem.	Up to 3′ (91 cm) tall.	Rosettes about 5″ (12 cm) in diameter, up to 1½′ (45 cm) high. Crawls along the ground, with *trailing, branching stems* up to 9½′ (3 m) long.
Flowers	Racemes (flowerheads) are 3-4″ (7.6-10 cm) long.	Red-orange. Blooms December to February. See these photos.	Coral-colored.
Leaves	7-8″ (17-20 cm) long and less than 1″ (2.5 cm) wide. Teeth are small and widely spaced.	Green succulent leaves with thorny margins.	Blue-green, up to 6″ (15 cm), with golden spines.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9-11
Habitats		Sandy desert soils, partial shade areas, good drainage, to 3800′ (1.2 km)
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild

	*Aloe divaricata var. divaricata*	*Aloe elgonica*	*Aloe excelsa var. excelsa*
Common Name	vaotsohy	Mt. Elgon aloe	Zimbabwe aloe
Plant	6½-9½′ (2-3 m) high, rarely up to 20′ (6 m). May have some branches. Dead leaves cover a portion of the trunk(s).	12-18" high.	Plants are on trunks 9½-20′ (3-6 m) tall.
Flowers	Flower stalks heavily branched, each 6-8″ (15-20 cm) long. Scarlet or pale pink.	Branched spikes of orange-red flowers 1½-3′ (50-90 cm) high. Photo by BotBln. Blooms May-September.	Spikes 1′ (30 cm) tall, dark red or red-orange.
Leaves	Leaf rosettes contain about 30 bluish-green leaves, each up to 2′ (65 cm) × 2½″ (7 cm). Leaf edges have reddish brown teeth.	Toothed, bronzy red, fleshy leaves.	Dark green leaves up to 3′ (1 m) long and 1″ (3 cm) thick.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11
Habitats			Wooded grasslands, woodlands, rocky outcrops, from 1476-5249′ (450-1600 m)
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild

	*Aloe ferox*	*Aloe greatheadii var. davyana*	*Aloe marlothii*
Common Name	bitter aloe	spotted aloe	flat-flowered aloe
Plant	Up to 10′ (3 m) high. Stem is unbranched, covered with dead leaves.	Rosette up to 1½′ (45 cm) wide. No stem.	A single stem, 12-18′ (3.7-5.5 m) high, is covered with dead leaves. Plants are 6½-13′ (2-4 m) in height.
Flowers	Large orange-red flower spikes, 2-4′ (60-121 cm) above leaf rosettes.	Pale pink to red. Stalks have up to 6 branches, up to 20′ (6 m) high. See desert-tropicals.com.	Red, orange, and yellow, branched like a candelabra. Photo by Pamla J. Eisenberg.
Leaves	Dull green, slightly bluish. Spines are present on leaf edges and sometimes on leaf surfaces.	Up to 9″ (22 cm) long, green to deep ruby red, flecked with oval gray patches, triangular to lance-shaped.	Gray-green to bluish-green, up to 5′ (1.5 m) × 10″ (25 cm) in size, broader than those of many aloes and tapering to a sharp tip. Maroon-colored teeth with orange tips occur along the leaf margins, and the *leaf surfaces have spines*.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9a-11
Habitats
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild

	*Aloe massawana*	*Aloe megalacantha var. megalacantha*	*Aloe mubendiensis*
Common Name		Large-toothed aloe	Mubende aloe
Plant	1½-2′ (45-60 cm) tall.	Often in groups, 1½-3′ (50-100 cm) high.	No stem, rosette about 2′ (60 cm) high.
Flowers	Red.	Flowering stalks are heavily branched, about 3′ (1 m) tall, supporting conelike flowerheads with red or yellow flowers.	Up to 4′ (1.2 m), red and yellow. See photos by allloe.
Leaves	Leaves are edged with thorns.	Leaves on upper part of stem, in groups of 24+, 2-2½′ (60-80 cm) × 5-6″ (13-15 cm), curving back on themselves. Large reddish-brown spines (this is what megalacantha means).	About 20" long.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11
Habitats
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild

	*Aloe ortholopha*	*Aloe rauhii*	*Aloe schomeri*
Common Name		snowflake aloe	aloe
Plant			1-1½′ (30-45 cm) tall.
Flowers			Yellow.
Leaves
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 10-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11
Habitats
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild

	*Aloe spinosissima*	*Aloe striata*	*Aloe succotrina*
Common Name	spider aloe	coral aloe	aloe
Plant	Produces densely clumped rosettes 2½-3′ (80-100 cm) in size.	Up to 1½′ (45 cm) tall and 2′ (60 cm) around. It does not have a stem.	Plants reach 3-5′ (1-1.5 m) in height. Like other aloes, their leaves form rosettes.
Flowers	1-1½′ (40-45 cm) tall, and are bright coral-red.	Coral colored, between orange and pink, on a raceme 8-12″ (20-30 cm) in height. Blooms January and July.	In a tall raceme up to 1′ (35 cm) high. Each flower is tubular in shape, nodding, up to 1½″ (4 cm) long, and red to orange in color. They appear in winter.
Leaves		Blue-green in color, with red-brown teeth. They are *wider at the base*, more triangular in shape, than many aloe leaves.	Ascending, curved, shaped like the keel of a boat in cross section, tapering to a point, with sharp white bumps along the edges. They are about 1½′ (50 cm) × 4″ (10 cm) in size.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9b-10
Habitats			Quartzite sandstone regions of the Cape folded mountains; on cliff faces and screes
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild

	*Aloe suprafoliata*	*Aloe suzannae*	*Aloe variegata ‘Ausana’*
Common Name	boekaalwyn	Suzanne’s aloe	partridge breast aloe
Plant		Rosettes up to 3′ (91 cm) around.	8-12″ (20-30 cm) in height. New, central leaves push older leaves outward in a spiral arrangement.
Flowers	Red flowers on tall spikes.	Yellow, nodding. Photo by Charles Rakotovao.	Orange, on a raceme 8-12″ (20-30 cm) high.
Leaves	Leaf tips often red.		Dark green, with raised, light green bands, 4-6″ (10-15 cm) long.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 9-10	USDA Zones: 9b-11	USDA Zones: 9-11
Type	Wild	Wild	Cultivar

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · By Robert Edmonston Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 7/29/2023 · South Africa · By Benjamin Winslow ID is dubious

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 9/7/2010 · Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, Massachusetts · ≈ 12 × 17″ (29 × 44 cm) Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 9/7/2010 · Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 27 cm) Species not yet identified

Aloe (Aloe) · 2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 7/29/2023 · South Africa · By Benjamin Winslow ID is dubious

(Aloe) · 2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 5/25/2009 · Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, Arizona · ≈ 1 × 2′ (41 × 62 cm) Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 4/11/1979 · Huntington Library Cactus Gardens, San Marino, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 5/2/2023 · South Africa · By Benjamin Winslow ID is dubious

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 7/29/2023 · South Africa · By Benjamin Winslow ID is dubious

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California Species not yet identified

Aloe (Aloe) · 2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California · ≈ 2 × 1½′ (72 × 48 cm) Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California Species not yet identified

(Aloe) · 2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California Species not yet identified

Aloe description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 16 Sep 2020.

Range:

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