THE LILY FAMILY. 



159 



thick and fleshy, and then often short and obtuse. Fruit 

 a capsule. 



Aloes. This genus consists of about 150 species, which vary- 

 extremely in size and general appearance. They are chiefly 

 natives of South Africa and the African islands. Many 

 species have been long cultivated in the gardens of Europe. 



Partridge-breasted Aloe (Aloe variegata). This is fre- 

 quently seen in cultivation as a window plant, and is a type 

 of the " stemless group," while A. africana and A. ferox 

 have cylindrical stems 8 — 10 feet high. The juice exuding 

 from the succulent leaves of these, and also from A . plica- 

 tilis and A, purpurascens yield the purgative bitter aloes, a 

 large quantity of which is imported from the Cape of Good 

 Hope. This is, however, of inferior quality ; the best is that 

 obtained from A. socotrina, a species which grows abun- 

 dantly and gives a special character to the hot, dry island of 

 Socotra, in the mouth of the Red Sea. This is generally 

 sent from Socotra to Bombay, and is imported to this country 

 under the name of Bombay Aloes. 



A species called Barbadoes Aloe (A. vulgaris) is generally 

 admitted to be a native of the Island of Barbadoes, but was 

 most probably introduced from the coast of Africa by the 

 slaves during the early settlement in that island. The drug 

 " aloes" forms an important ingredient in patent purgative 

 medicines. It must be distinctly understood that the plants 

 of this family are not the " aloes" of Scripture. 



Yucca. The species of this genus are natives of Mexico 

 and other parts of tropical America. Some species are 

 stemless, while Adam's Needle ( T. gloriosa) has palmid stems 

 which, under favourable conditions in this country attain 

 the height of 4 — 6 feet, and 6 or more inches in diameter. 

 They are often branched, each branch being terminated by a 

 tuft of lanceolate or sword-shaped leaves, from which rise a 

 panicle 2 — 3 feet high, bearing large pendulous white 

 flowers. All the species contain a large quantity of fibre in 

 their leaves, which is extensively used in the countries where 

 they are abundant. 



