Aloe vera
Aloe ×schonlandii
Barbados aloe, burn plant, Curaçao aloe, medicinal aloe, unguentine cactus
to 50 cm; scarious leaf sheaths persistent.
branching, to 40 cm.
alternate, rosulate to distichous, 10–50 × 10–70 cm;
blade glaucous-green to variegated with small white or glaucous dots, irregular bands, or blotches, often reddish near apex or margins, lanceolate to ensate, tapering from base to apex, glabrous, margins green, spiny-toothed, teeth 1–1.5 cm apart.
rosulate, 20–25 × 9–12 cm;
blade light green to slightly glaucous, white-spotted, triangular-ovate to lanceolate, glabrous, margins whitish, spiny-toothed, teeth ca. 5 mm apart.
terminal, usually unbranched, racemose, 10–15 dm, usually covered with scalelike bracts;
racemes cylindrical, dense, 0.5 m;
bracts glabrous or puberulent, with 3 prominent purple veins that are confluent at tips.
racemose, maroon to slightly glaucous, divided distally into 5–10 arching branches, 4–9 dm; each branch with racemes 5–8 cm;
bracts scarious, persistent.
perianth yellow;
tepals prominently 3-veined, connate basally for 1/2 their length, lobes broadly linear to oblong-lanceolate, apex rounded;
stamens 6, included to slightly exserted, slightly unequal;
filaments 2–2.5 cm;
anthers 2.5–4 mm;
style usually exserted;
stigmas not expanded;
pedicel 2.2–3.3 cm.
perianth red, 2.5–3.2 cm;
tepals almost entirely connate, limb lobes ovate;
stamens 6, included, slightly unequal, as long as perianth tube;
stigmas not expanded;
pedicel 1.5–3 cm.
somewhat elongate.
brown, oblong, 2–3 cm.
3-winged, ca. 5 mm, sterile.
= 14.
Aloe vera
Aloe ×schonlandii
This is the aloe of commerce and source of bitter aloe. Most of the world’s supply is grown in southern Texas and adjacent northwestern Mexico and the West Indies. The species is thought to be native to the Atlantic islands and is widely used as an indoor ornamental. It is often cultivated outdoors in the southwestern United States, where it occasionally escapes.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
as species
Aloe ×schonlandii is a common natural hybrid, found growing wild with its parents, A. saponaria (Aiton) Haworth and A. striata Haworth, both of South Africa. It has long been in cultivation and is reported to have first been planted in the flora area in La Jolla, California, in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Since then it has spread and become firmly established in that area. The plants are apparently sterile and propagate only vegetatively.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CalFlora
