Aloe

“ The great scarlet aloe is the centre of many pictures, either solitary on a terrace, with trees and the bay, or in an old garden amongst cypresses, its red-hot pokers contrasting brilliantly with the rich green, or, better still, perhaps in masses on a long border under an open avenue of olives on a hillside, seen in the glow of evening, standing gemlike in the still blueness of sea and sky. Roses may be seen everywhere, festooning walls and forming hedges. ”

“ The lily of the valley, forgetting that it is winter here, opens its bell-like blossom of snowy-white and fills the whole air with dainty sweetness. The green and striped aloe grows wild in clusters affording variety and beauty of effect to all around. ”

“ Aloe, al′ō, n. a genus of plants of considerable medicinal importance, of the 200 species of which as many as 170 are indigenous to the Cape Colony.—The so-called American Aloe is a totally different plant (see Agave) .—adj. Al′oed, planted or shaded with aloes.—The Aloes wood of the Bible was the heart-wood of Aquilaria ovata and Aquilaria Agallochum, large spreading trees. The wood contains a dark-coloured, fragrant, resinous substance, much prized for the odour it diffuses in burning. ”

“ Linnæus has separated this genus from Aloe, from the extension of the stamens and style beyond the corolla, and the resting of the corolla on the germ: they also differ in growth, as all Agaves have their central leaves closely enfoliating and embracing the flower-stem, which, forming in the centre, never appears till they are expanded; it then proceeds with a rapidity that in a few weeks reaches maturity, and when the flowers are past the plant dies. On the contrary, the flower-stem of the Aloe comes out from the side annually from the same plant. ”

“ This Aloe was first collected and photographed by Dr. Pole Evans at Nelspruit in September 1905. In the Nelspruit Valley (Barberton District) the plant is found chiefly on the granite outcrops, and in similar localities at Eland’s Hoek and in the Kaap Valley, where it was collected by Mr. Geo. Thorncroft. Like most of our Transvaal aloes, it flowers in mid-winter (July) , and the flowering period extends well into August. Aloe petricola is one of the stemless species, and the bicoloured inflorescence makes it quite a striking plant in the rockery. ”

“ Before reaching the grave, the eye is charmed by the deep glens, plantations, and neat houses. The furze-bushes with their yellow blossoms, the bramble, and other European plants, reminded the voyager of home and all its endearing charms. The hedges of the aloe, with its high stem surmounted by clusters of flowers, together with the carolling of the numerous birds from all countries, which had been introduced and set at liberty on the island, increased the delight which had been already experienced. ”

“ In the Aloe tribe when the flower stem is thrown up, it is at the expense of the outer leaves, the elaborated juices of which it appropriates, the roots at this time not being in action, because it is towards the close of a long period of dryness. If when the flower-stem is beginning to rise, the roots are watered, all further development of the stem is arrested, the leaves only being developed. ”

“ Along the high hill bank that skirts this steep by-road, eucalyptus rear their lofty heads and their faintly-scented blossoms, aloe draws her potent sword, and thick-fleshed prickly pear displays her uncouth malignity. Beneath, what a lush undergrowth of riotous great-foliaged plants—acanthus, and a hundred other green sisters, all flourishing and waxing, so unstinted, so at large! He has reached the main road—the shady road that leads by a three-mile descent from Mustapha Supérieur to the town. ”

“ The plant, when vigorous, rises upwards of twenty feet high, and branches out on every side, forming a kind of pyramid, of greenish yellow flowers, in thick clusters at every joint. We often meet with the aloe in our conservatories, and it has been known to flourish in the open air. A Correspondent of the Gardener's Magazine, writing from Gwrich Castle, Abergelay, Denbighshire, tells us that "about eight years back he pulled down one of his hot-houses, in which stood a large American Aloe, known to be 68 years of age. ”

“ Aloe.... Grief.
The Aloe is attached to the soil by very feeble roots; it delights to grow in the wilderness, and its taste is extremely bitter. Thus grief separates us from earthly things, and fills the heart with bitterness. These {29}magnificent and monstrous plants are found in barbarous Africa: they grow upon rocks, in dry sand under a burning atmosphere. Some have leaves six feet long, and armed with long spires. From the centre of these leaves shoots up a slender stem covered with flowers.
Sister Sorrow! ”

“ Obs. A. variegata simply has the pointal and stamens bent downwards.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Aloe arborescens: floribus spicatis rubescentibus, apice viridibus: foliis porrectis, lanceolatis, carneis, apice recurvatis, marginibus serratis: caule ad basin nudo, superne foliis circumsesso.
Aloe with a tree-like stem. Flowers grow in spikes of a soft red colour, green at the ends. Leaves straight out, lance-shaped, fleshy, and recurved, with sawed margins. Stem naked at the base, surrounded by the leaves on the upper part.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. ”

“ Botanical Origin—Several species of Aloë [2539] furnish a bitter juice which when inspissated forms this drug. These plants are natives of arid, sunny places in Southern and Eastern Africa, whence a few species have been introduced into Northern Africa, Spain, [2540] and the East and West Indies.
The aloes are succulent plants of liliaceous habit with persistent fleshy leaves, usually prickly at the margin, and erect spikes of yellow or red flowers. Many are stemless; others produce stems some feet in height, which are woody and branching. ”

“ As seen in our hot-houses, the form may be known, but that is all; no idea can be formed of the cavern-like alley with which, when they rise fifteen or twenty feet, they cover the ground. The aloe is the outer fence, or chevaux-de-frise, the cactus rising higher within: through these are mingled the tall slender reeds, as if to unite in one bond the three most dissimilar things in nature. ”

“ This African aloe has none of the slender grace of its American relative, and it is only when flowering that it has any claim to beauty; at all other times it is simply a most untidy-looking plant, the thick, clumsy stem for about five or six feet below the crown of leaves being covered with the ragged, decaying remains of former vegetation, suggestive of numberless scorpions and centipedes.
Thorny plants abound, especially on the mountains, where indeed almost every bush which is not soft and succulent is armed with strong, sharp, often cruelly hooked spikes. ”

“ It looks so pretty growing over the rocks or around some old stumps. The aloes grow all up the sides of the mountain. When it is time for them to flower, a tall stalk shoots up from the middle of the aloe which, in course of time, becomes covered with red blossoms. ”

“ Nearly all the houses in Walmer have good gardens, enclosed by the prettiest of hedges, sometimes of pomegranate, plumbago, or passion flowers, but most often of tall American aloes, round the sweet flowers of which the pretty honey-suckers—magnified humming-birds, substantial instead of insect-like—are continually hovering, their jewelled dresses of green, red, and yellow flashing in the sun at every turn of their rapid flight. Close under the hedge, and shaded by the aloe's blue-green spikes, the white arums grow in the thickest profusion. ”

“ This indeed is not the same plant as the American aloe, better distinguished as the agave, whose flowering stem may rise to the height of half a dozen men, so here we must be content with miniature specimens to fit the Succulent House. Beside this collection stands a greenhouse glowing with bloom inside panes dimmed by frosty fog; then beyond open smaller nurseries of tropical and filmy ferns. Outside, here, is supported a huge wistaria, once wreathing the walls of a conservatory now removed. ”

“ The aloe [269] plant (Aloe spicata or Socotrina) in the western districts covers the hills for many miles, at an elevation of from 500 to 2000 feet above the plains. This aloe is also to be found along the whole east coast of Africa, even as far south as the Cape of Good Hope. The dragon’s-blood tree also grows on the western portion of Socotra, at an elevation of from 800 to 2000 feet; and, as well as the aloe, is in such abundance that at least ten times the quantity of these drugs which at present is exported from the island might be easily procured. ”

“ Among the cultivated variegated century plants one yellow-margined form, with the green parts of a darker shade and the end spine long and slender, has been distinguished for half a century under the name A. picta; but, as with the variegated forms of A. Americana, nothing is known as to its source or the first date of its appearance. Like the unvariegated form, these yellow-margined plants are now becoming established along the Italian Riviera.
When the American aloe, as it has often been called, was a novelty in Europe, its flowering was one of the wonders of the world. ”

“ The proper earth for this vegetable, is one half of garden-mould, or fresh earth dug from a common; the other half consists of an equal proportion of white sea-sand, and sifted lime-rubbish. This mixture should be made, at least, six or eight months previous to its use. The common aloe will live in a dry green-house in winter, and in summer may be placed under shelter, in the open air; but should have very little water, and none on the stem of the plant: the other species require to be kept in an airy green-house, in which there is a stove to make a fire in cold weather. ”

“ In some of those saline and arid districts, where no other fresh water is to be found, there grows a species of the aloe, well known to the natives, from which, on being tapped by an incision made in one of the thickest leaves, a clear stream will spurt out sufficient to allay the traveller's thirst. ”

“ The aloe mentioned in the Bible, usually in connection with myrrh and frankincense, is not the same drug as that used in medicine to-day, and is even without its bitterness. It is the product of the Aquilaria Agallocha, a tree of large size growing in the Laos country and Assam. The wood is light in colour and inodorous, but under certain conditions a change takes place in it, and it becomes charged with a dark aromatic juice. It was formerly used as a spice in embalming, and is employed in China and the East as incense in the temples. ”

“ This plant, the great American aloe, comes into flower and dies in a few years. It exhausts itself in flowering. In England we call it the century plant, for the exotic lingers long in the unfavourable climate, and with difficulty puts forth its blossoms at all. There, too, are hedges and circas of prickly-pear, or nopal, which yield the delicious wild fig—the cactus familiar to the traveller in the Holy Land and Syria, whence it was taken from Mexico. ”

“ The aloe plant is commonly used for fences, its long sharp-pointed leaves proving an excellent repellant to any intruder. From the centre of the plant rises a smooth green stem, or column, of about twenty or thirty feet high, broad at the base, and tapering to the top, where it branches out into numerous pedunculuses, or flower stalks. This plant has no calyx; the corolla is monopetalous, and of the colour of the brightest gold, which produces a splendid appearance when in bloom. They are very hardy plants, and can scarcely be destroyed even if wished. ”

“ Our Saviour still supplies —
15 Ha! ha! the soul regains her place,
And sweetens all the skies.
Notes
↑ 1-2. One hundred feet from off the ground / That noble Aloe blows... — Regarding these two lines Karina Williamson notes that “the American Aloe was famed for its size but one hundred feet is an exaggeration.” She continues regarding the line 5: “An account of a giant specimen appeared in Gentl. Mag., 1759: described as the largest ever seen in England, it was said to be 104 years old, ‘and it is thought it will be 40 feet high’ (p. 291) . ”

“ The different species of aloes, which blossom in succession, form the principal sources of their winter supplies of food; and a legion of other gay flowering plants in spring and summer, the aloe blossoms especially, are all brilliantly coloured, and they harmonise admirably with the gay plumage of the different species of sun-birds. Even the keen eye of a hawk will fail to detect them, so closely do they resemble the flowers they frequent. ”

“ Mine has stayed in a two-inch pot for more than a year, and filled itself out with thin, round green leaves edged with creamy white, blushing faint pink in warm sun. The leaves huddle in tight, overlapping rosettes all around the branching stems.
Aloe Liliaceae
Symmetrical clusters of thick, heavy, sharp-spiny leaves; fall and winter flowers held aloft like a torch. One of the smaller species is A. brevifolia, with leaf rosettes about three inches across. A. variegata can eventually reach a foot high, but very slowly; and its white-marbled leaves are striking in the meantime. ”

“ It is the Agave Americana, the same aloe that is so common in southern Europe, where indeed it flowers, and that grows in our gardens and used to have the reputation of flowering once in a hundred years. ”