Aloe |
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aloe |
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Habit | Plants succulent, shrubby or arborescent, scapose. | ||||
Stems | erect, clambering or ascending, branched or not. |
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Leaves | succulent, crowded, often rosulate or distichous; blade margins spiny-toothed or entire. |
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Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, paniculate to more often racemose, dense, bracteate. |
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Flowers | usually nodding; perianth red to yellow; tepals connate basally to almost entirely into tube; stamens 3 or 6; style slender; pedicel not articulate. |
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Capsules | papery to woody. |
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x | = 7. |
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Aloe |
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Distribution |
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 [Introduced in North America] |
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Discussion | Species 300 or more (2 in the flora). Aloe saponaria (Aiton) Haworth, distinguished by its yellow sap and glaucous red flowers with yellow throats, is cultivated in the southwestern United States and has been observed to escape. Apparently it persists only when supplementary water is available. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 410. | ||||
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Subordinate taxa | |||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 319. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 150. (1754) | ||||
Web links |