LILIACEiE. 



53 



and as there are above a hundred and fifty species that can 

 be reared in the dry greenhouse, only a few can be men- 

 tioned. A, Socotrina produces the medicinal drag known 

 as aloes; it has long sword-shaped leaves, somewhat spotted, 

 the edges white, with straight spines, these form large 

 heads; the stalks grow three or four feet high, and have 

 from one to four of these heads of leaves ; the flowers are in 

 long spikes, and are scarlet tipped with green. A, arho- 

 rescens is called the Tree Aloe, it has scarlet flowers; spi- 

 cata is the white-spotted ; flavispina, the yellow-spined ; 

 vulgaris, the common yellow-flowered of the West Indies ; 

 Chifiensis, the Chinese species; variegata is called the Par- 

 tridge-breasted Aloe ; it is a small species, but is remarkable 

 for its triangular leaves, which are veined and spotted like 

 the feathers of a partridge's breast; it has salmon-coloured 

 flowers ; echinata is called the Great Hedgehog Aloe ; sub- 

 erecta, the lesser; and acuminata, the Middle Hedgehog; 

 these have prickles on the leaf as well as on the edge; 

 their flowers are orange-red. What were formerly called 

 "Tongue-leaved Aloes" are now comprised under the ge- 

 neric name of Gasteria, and are all natives of the Cape, and 

 generally distinguished specifically by their leaves, being 

 either dark, marbled, thick, or short-leaved; blunt, soft, 



