234 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
ALOE. 
The Aloe is attached to the soil by very feeble 
roots ; it delights to grow in the wilderness ; its taste 
is extremely bitter. Thus grief detaches us from the 
earth, separates us from the world, and fills our hearts 
with bitterness. These plants live almost entirely 
on air, and assume singular and grotesque shapes. 
Le Vaillant found several species in great profusion 
in the deserts of the Namaquas, in South Africa. 
Some had leaves six feet long : they are thick and 
armed with long spines : from the centre of these 
leaves shoots up a slender stem as tall as a tree, and 
covered with flowers. Others are marbled, and look 
like snakes creeping upon the ground. Brydone 
saw the ancient city of Syracuse overgrown with 
large Aloes in blossom ; their elegant stems gave to 
the promontory on which it stands the appearance of 
an enchanted wood. These magnificent and mon- 
strous plants have been given to barbarous Africa : 
