89. Aloe ferox. Lam. Stem very lofty. Leaves perfoliate, thick, juicy, sword-shaped, deflexed, glaucous, prickly throughout, but bearing larger and sharper spines along the margins. Flowers racemose, crowded. Stamens double as long as the corolla.
The Cape Aloes are procured from several species of this extensive genus, so peculiar to South Africa. The Aloe ferox. Lam., a native of Swellendam, is generally acknowledged to yield the best extract. That obtained from the Aloe africana. Mill. is almost equally good, but not so bitter, nor so powerful as a drastic. It is the produce of the eastern districts, whence large quantities are annually exported. The Aloe commonly used by the Colonists, is prepared from the Aloe plicatilis. Mill., whose extract is a much milder purgative, and much resembles the Barbadoes Aloes. It inhabits the mountainous range near the Paarl, Drakenstein, and Fransche Hoek. It is much to be regretted, that the farmers do not take more trouble in purifying this valuable drug.