Tas. 6580. 
ALOE macracantaa. 
Native of the Cape Colony. 
Nat. Ord. Lit1acem.—Tribe ALoInER. 
Genus Aton, Linn. ; (Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. vol. xviii. p. 148.) 
ALOE macracantha; candice elongato simplici, foliis 20-30 dense rosulatis lanceo- 
latis pedalibus et ultra 3-4 poll. latis viridibus lineis et maculis albidis 
confluentibus copiosis decoratis margine aculeis magnis patulis corneis deltoideo- 
cuspidatis preeditis, pedunculo simplici vel furcato, floribus dense corymbosis, 
pedicellis erecto-patentibus 1-14 poll. longis, bracteis lanceolatis pedicello 
brevioribus, perianthii splendide luteo-rubri tubo supra basin constricto, 
segmentis tubo duplo brevioribus, genitalibus perianthio zquilongis. 
A. macracantha, Baker in Journ. Linn, Soe. vol. xviii. p. 167. 
This is unmistakably the finest of all the spotted 
Aloes. Its alliance is with A. Saponaria and A. latifolia, 
from which it is marked at a glance by its longer caudex, 
broader leaves, and larger flowers. It is one of the most 
interesting of the many novelties in succulent plants, dis- 
covered by Mr. Thomas Cooper, of Reigate, in his travels 
through the eastern provinces of Cape Colony, from 1858 
to 1862, on behalf of Mr. Wilson Saunders and the Royal 
Horticultural Society. We have had it growing at Kew to 
my knowledge since 1870, and it is now widely spread in 
collections; but so far as I am aware, it has never flowered 
in cultivation till now. Our drawing was made from a 
plant that flowered in the Cactus-house at Kew in March 
of this present year. 
Descr. Caudex simple, reaching a length of two or three 
feet, and a diameter of two or three inches. Leaves twenty 
to thirty in a dense rosette, lanceolate, twelve or fifteen 
inches long, three or four inches broad below the middle, 
narrowed gradually from the middle to the tip, one-sixth of 
an inch thick in the centre, nearly flat on the face, bright 
SEPTEMBER lst, 1881. 
