1026.000 Aloe L. - Aloe

CHORTOLIRION A. Berger

Carter, S. (2001) Aloaceae Flora Zambesiaca 12(3)

Fowler, D.G. (2007) Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses, Kew Publishing

Grace, O.M., Klopper, R.R., Smith, G.F., Crouch, N.R., Figueiredo, E., Rønsted, N., Van Wyk, A.E. (2013) A revised generic classification for Aloe (Xanthorrhoeaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae) Phytotaxa 76(1) 7-14

Harding, T.B.C. (1979) Aloes of the World: A Checklist, Index and Code as at December 1979. Excelsa 9

Reynolds, G.W. (1966) The Aloes of Tropical Africa and Madagascar. The Aloes Book Fund, Mbabane, Swaziland.

Williamson, G. (2002) Notes on Zambian Aloes Aloe 39(3&4) 83-91

Description of the genus

Succulent perennials, sometimes large and shrub-like, but not dichotomously branched trees or large shrubs. Leaves borne in rosettes or distichous, usually stiff, succulent, with hard-toothed or spiny margins, spotted or unspotted; dried leaves persistent or not. Inflorescence variously branched or simple. Flowers usually brightly coloured, actinomorphic, only rarely ± 2-lipped, variously shaped, with or without a pronounced constriction above a bulbous basal swelling. A well known genus of mainly winter-flowering species.

Derivation of name: Aloe is the Greek name for Aloe vera, one of the bitter aloes of medicine.

Comment: The aloes are popular garden ornaments, interesting in themselves, easy to grow and propagate, with the flowers attracting sunbirds. The shrubby species Aloe arborescens and A. cameronii make impenetrable hedges. Although the leaves are unpalatable, antelopes browse the inflorescences.
Hybridization is common wherever more than one species are cultivated in gardens, but also occurs naturally.
Common names: cilambwe (Lunda), itembusya (Bemba), kanembe (Tonga), kanembe (Ila), cilambwe (Soli), hopani (Lozi).

Worldwide: c.365 species, tropics and especially southern Africa, Madagascar, Arabia and Canary Isles.

Zambia: 3 cultivated taxa.

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Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
cameronii Hemsl. var. cameronii Description, Image
chabaudii Schönland var. chabaudii Description, Image
cryptopoda BakerDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Aloe:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Aloe
Flora of Caprivi: Aloe
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Aloe
Flora of Malawi: Aloe
Flora of Mozambique: Aloe
Flora of Zambia: Aloe
Flora of Zimbabwe: Aloe
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Aloe

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Aloe
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Aloe
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Aloe
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Aloe
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Aloe
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Aloe
JSTOR Plant Science: Aloe
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Aloe
Plants of the World Online: Aloe
Tropicos: Aloe
Wikipedia: Aloe

Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-24

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2024). Flora of Zambia: Cultivated plants: genus page: Aloe.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/cult/genus.php?genus_id=340, retrieved 19 March 2024

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