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Vascular Plants of California
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Aloe

Higher Taxonomy
Family: AsphodelaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: ASPHODEL FAMILY
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, shrub [tree], fleshy or not, rhizomed. Stem: branched or not. Leaf: basal or +- so or in terminal clusters, alternate, linear to widely lanceolate [ovate], small (1.5--27 cm, 0.5--3 mm wide) [to large (1.9--4 m, 3--6 cm wide)], leathery or not, fleshy or not, entire or with minute sharp teeth or coarse prickles. Inflorescence: panicle [spike, raceme], bracts scattered. Flower: perianth parts 6, in 2 petal-like whorls, radial or +- bilateral, free or +- fused; stamens 6, equal or not, anthers attached at base or middle; ovary superior, chambers 3. Fruit: capsule, loculicidal. Seed: 6--many, flat, angled, or winged, gray, brown, +- black, black-brown.
Genera In Family: +- 17 genera, 800 species: Africa, Mediterranean to central Asia.
eFlora Treatment Author: Dale W. McNeal
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Aloe
Habit: Perennial herb, shrub [tree], fleshy, sap bitter. Stem: branched or not. Leaf: basal and cauline, reduced upward, simple, base clasping, margin with coarse prickles [entire]. Inflorescence: generally axillary, generally +- scapose, [spike] raceme or panicle with many raceme-like branches, bracted. Flower: generally nodding, odor 0; perianth parts 6 in 2 petal-like whorls, fused except near tip [+- to base]; stamens [3 or]6, unequal; ovary superior, chambers 3, style slender. Seed: many, flat, generally winged.
Species In Genus: +- 300 species: Mediterranean Europe, southern Asia, especially Africa. Etymology: (Arabic name for these plants) Note: Aloe striatula Haw. may be naturalizing locally in SnFrB (Berkeley Hills).
Jepson eFlora Author: Dale W. McNeal
Unabridged Reference: Reynolds 1950 Aloës of S Afr, Cape Times Ltd
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Key to Aloe

Previous taxon: Asphodelaceae
Next taxon: Aloe maculata

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Citation for this treatment: Dale W. McNeal 2012, Aloe, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=10351, accessed on April 23, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 23, 2024.