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ALOE. 



079 



LlLIACEiE. 



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ALOE. 



Aloes ; F. Aloes on Sue d' Aloes ; G. Aloe. 



Botanical Origin— Several species of Aloii^ 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, Spam,2 and the 



Til I T I^TX » T T • 



East and West Indies. , • 4. i. 



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 teat in 

 height, which are woody and branching. In the remote districts ot 

 Namaqua Land and Damara Laud in Western South Africa, and m the 

 Transkei Territory and Northern Natal to the eastern, aloes have been 

 discovered which attain 30 to GO feet in height, with stems as much as 

 12 feet in circumference.' The following species may be named with 

 more or less of certainty as yielding the drug/ 



>e socotrina Lani". {A.' vera Miller), native ot tne souLneru suuico 



Red Sea and Indian Ocean, Socotra, and Zanzibar (0;^^ It is tne 



ource of the Socotrine and 31o]ca Aloes. A. officinalis borsk. ana 



A. ruhescens DC. are considered to be varieties of this plant. A. auys- 



imrn. T.arv, rv,o,r ■r.^^T.oKUr o^i.frn^ntfi to the aloes shippec 



source 



A. ruhescens DC. are considered to be varieties ot tins pi.iuu^ ^. u..-,- 

 smica Lam. may probably contribute to the aloes shipped trora tne 

 Red Sea. . , i i 



nsis 

 found 



Mill), a plant of India and of Eastern and r^ortnern ivinc., "-;;;;- 

 also on the shores of Southern Spain, Sicily, Greece and ^}l^f^^' ^^^ ' 

 introduced in the beginning of the IGth century (or earliei into the 

 West Indies. It affords Barbados and Curagao Aloes. A md^ 

 Royle, a plant of the North-west Provinces o^J^J^^Yl^^L 

 gardens, appears to be a slight variety of A. vulgaris l.am. 



gardens, appears to be a slight variety ot A. vutgaTi>^ • "unnwn to us 



Konig. said to grow in abundance at Cape Comoym, is «"/;"r;^;; ";; 



Dr. Bidie suggests that it is a form of the P^^c^^ing, stunted by a poor 



saline soil and exposure to the sea breeze. Both A. vadica and A. 



lifn^^nKo r.^ 1 :„ .v„ r>7 .r,nr.^^r^nn ni India. . . 



litorali 



are named in the Pharmacopceia oj Inm.. 



ferox L., and hybrids obtained by crossing it with Ji. aj 



l^oi-o- A r)f,rfoliata 1 

 iputed to yield the oesi. Caj)' 

 tfricana M 



erox jj., ana iiyorias ootaiueu uj ^z^- 

 A. spicata Thunberg, A. perfoliata 

 'iformls are reputed to yield the bes 



V—— —11. ana its vanetio.-,^ «-- --• x p-i 



an extract which Pappe^ says is thought ^o^fJ^^^Xr^^^^ 

 A. arhorescens Mill., A. Gommehni Wiild. ana ^. i 1 



3^?^ tlie Syriac Alwal. 

 Aloe, arhorescens, A, purpiirasren^, and 

 A. vnhjarm may be seen luxuriantly grow- 

 *"f "1 ^^alencia, Granada, Gibraltar. 



io-?-^'*^^' "1 Gardeners' Chronicle, May 2, 

 18^-4, with figures. 



Good figures of Aloe afrkana, A. arhor- 

 esccn.i, A. ferox, A. purpurascens, A. socot- 



■ nn,l A rnh,nri-f will be found in the 



SS:^a:i5^ Bonnae. ^836-1863. 



^''s Florid Capensis Malkoi Prodromu^ cd. 

 2, 1857. 41. 



