ALOE, NEW ZEALAND FLAX, LILY, TULIP. 



535 



713. One of the most interesting tribes belonging to this 

 extensive group, is that of the Aloe and its near allies, most of 

 which are highly ornamental plants, whilst some afford a very 

 serviceable drug, and others supply products capable of being 

 applied to many important uses. They are remarkable for the 

 large size of the leaves, which are thick and fleshy, and which 

 sometimes attain the length of eight feet or even more ; each 

 terminates in a hard sharp point, about half or three-quarters of 

 an inch in length, and in appearance not unlike the claw of a 

 beast cf prey ; so that a hedge or fence made of a series of these 

 plants is quite impenetrable to cattle, and almost so (in conse- 

 quence of the great toughness of the leaves) even to Man, 

 unless well provided with cutting instruments. The proper 

 juice of the Aloe is very bitter and stimulating : and the extract 

 made from it is much used in medicine as a purgative. The 

 species which yields it in the largest quantity, and in the most 

 active form, is cultivated at the Cape of Good Hope, whence 

 large quantities of it are imported into this country ; the drug 

 is also obtained from several species that grow in Barbadoes, but 

 this is less pure than the other, and is principally used in this 

 country by farriers, &c. 



714. Nearly allied to the Aloe is the Phormium tenax, the 

 plant which yields the (so-called) New Zealand Flax ; the fibres 

 of which are very much stronger than those of hemp, whilst they 



may also be pre- 

 pared in such a 

 manner as to 

 become beauti- 

 fully white and 

 lustrous, like 

 silk. Many at- 

 tempts have been 

 made to propa- 

 gate this valu- 

 able plant, both 

 in Britain and 

 in Australia ; as yet, however, these have not been attended with 



Fro. 191. PHORMIUM TENAX. a, flower; 6, the same opened 

 to show the stamens ; and pistils ; c, fruit ; d, horizontal sec- 

 tion of the same ; e, seed ; /, the same in section. 



