Family: Asphodelaceae Juss.
Distribution: South Africa – from the Cape Peninsula along the eastern coast through KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Province to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. In South Africa grows about 125 species of Aloe. This species is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical areas of the world (e.g. Macaronesia, Mediterranean etc.).
Ecology: It grows mainly in mountainous areas, also in bush, from sea level to mountains. Flowers from May to July.
Description: A large succulent plant, shrub or tree of about 200(–400) cm high, many branched. The leaves in apical rosettes, up to 60 cm long, strongly recurved, greyish green to bright green, on margins with firm teeth. The inflorescence is raceme up to 90 cm long, simple or branched, the flowers are 4–5 cm long, scarlet, orange, pink or yellow.
Use: In South Africa planted as live fence, Zulus use the powder of the dried leaves as protection against storms, decoction is used in traditional medicine.
Threat and protection: This species is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
These images were taken in Portugal, Madeira, Levada dos Piornais (Ladislav Hoskovec, June 28, 2005) and South Africa, Cape Point (Věra Svobodová, April 20, 2012).
