Aloe plicatilis at the UC Berkeley Botanic gardens, on the African Hill. These tree aloes do very well in the Bay Area, although they top out at about 5 feet tall, rather than the 12 feet they get in South Africa.
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on Mar 29, 2008, 1:06PM
It's Press Release time. They're now trying to get you to drink your aloe, rather than just lather it on after a sunburn or cut.
Launched at the 2007 Hispanic Retail 360 Summit in Dallas, Texas, by the producers of Everest Premium Bottled Waters, the new product is called Everest Extra With Aloe.
According to Aloecorp's market research, Hispanic consumers have traditionally used herbal ingredients and are therefore a prime market for innovative products, such as waters, that make use of botanical ingredients.
I don't think I would like that. After all, aloe tastes terrible. But then, I'm not their target market, so who cares what I think.
MANY species of aloes come from South Africa, and these are often seen growing in California gardens. However, it comes as a surprise to many people to discover that the Arabian Peninsula is also home to several dozen kinds.
In many people's minds the Arabian Peninsula is a vast sea of scorching sand and barren rocks, and there is certainly plenty of this type of terrain there.
But parallel to the Red Sea coast, and bending around along the Indian Ocean coast to the east, there are rugged mountains which rise up high enough to capture clouds and provide a wide variety of habitats and micro-climates.
Aloe out in the cold. We have been admiring the snow covered mountains from afar for many years but we never saw the need to drive to the bottom of the mountain just to see the snow above.
This year the snow caught our attention when it was announced that the roads to Sutherland were cut off as a result of heavy snow and rain. . . .
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on Aug 11, 2007, 5:08AM
Posted by ericat Reblogged by Old Roses to aloes on 2007-08-12, 06:10:41
the quiver tree Aloe dichotoma in habitat. During his visit to us my son wanted to see the "Quiver Tree forest". That is an experience not to be missed by anybody visiting South Africa or Namibia. To appreciate the full effect of the harsh climate in which these aloes grow visit in December, which was when these photos were taken.
The drive is roughly 500 km there and back. Our grandson Thomas enjoyed the boerewors and mielies for lunch (beef sausage and corn on the cob) at a picnic spot in the shade. . . .
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on Jun 12, 2007, 5:17PM
Posted by ericat Reblogged by Old Roses to aloes on 2007-06-13, 18:12:13
The genus name Aloeis derived from the Arabic, alloch and translated as allal in Greek and Hebrew, literally meaning bitter or bitter sap which is descriptive of Aloe sap. The genus Aloe belong to the family Asphodelaceae to which also other succulent genera such as Haworthia and Gasteria. A widely spread misunderstanding is that also the Agave and related American genera belong to the same famly. These belong to the family of the Agavaceae. Some Aloe species (f.e. A. Ferox, A. Barbados and A. Socotrine) are valued for their medical properties. There is however a large number of medical claims which are not scientifically proven up to date or are proven to be false. . . .
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on Jun 8, 2007, 3:28AM
Posted by soekershof Reblogged by Old Roses to aloes on 2007-06-09, 20:52:32
The small terrestrial orchid Pterygodium.volucris can grow happy in the same conditions as the aloes in the garden. The name orchid usually goes with pretty or very odd flowers, but not in the case of this small orchid. The flowers are so plain and the same color as the leaves so that it is easy to overlook them. The plants are neat and they grow very easy. Pterygodium.volucris is from the winter rainfall area so it needs rest in summer and water in winter. It can remain in the ground in a dry climate.
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on Jun 3, 2007, 10:09AM
Posted by ericat Reblogged by Old Roses to aloes, orchids on 2007-06-05, 06:32:01
more aloe buds Our winter is an exciting time with at least 80% of our aloes blooming from late fall to early spring. The real thrill is when a rare aloe blooms for the first time and buds are visible on our Aloe sabaea from Yemen! I have not seen this aloe in bloom except on a picture. Buds are also showing on Aloe rubroviolacea, also from Yemen and I have not seen it "live in bloom" either.
The raceme is often mentioned in describing aloes, it is the part of the stem on which the flowers are attached. The length of the raceme change the image of the flowering aloe a lot. Directly below is Aloe mitriformis with a very short raceme and at the bottom Aloe speciosa has a raceme that is roughly 40 cm long.
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on May 12, 2007, 5:49AM
Posted by ericat Reblogged by Old Roses to aloes on 2007-05-13, 16:50:59
but it is a bud... It is obvious that the Aloe species differ a lot in the shape of the leaves, rosette and flowers but the buds are also different. The best way to identify an aloe is by the flowers as the leaves and rosette will change shape and color depending on whether they grow in shade, sun or drought but the flowers remain the same. The buds are not taken into account mainly because they change in shape and color nearly on a daily basis and the flowers are so much easier to identify. It can be interesting to watch the change and to note the differences in the buds of the aloes species and hybrids.
Aloe cryptopoda. . . .
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on May 6, 2007, 12:32AM
Posted by ericat Reblogged by Old Roses to aloes on 2007-05-06, 22:18:40
This is a form of Aloe vera and it's a reliable bloomer every December. Great for cut flowers as well as for burns, etc. A workhorse type of plant here. It will survive here without any extra water. Gotta love that!
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Posted by Diane Reblogged by Old Roses to aloes on 2007-02-07, 00:06:43
The Aloes were blooming at the New York Botanical Garden the other day when I visited the Holiday Train Show. This one in particular had a huge number of blooms. I shot this picture with my Sigma 28-200mm Macro lens. Karen has my D70s kit lens (18-70mm) on her D80. The Aloe is an interesting plant with its medicinal properties well documented. . . .
Summertime blooms with small differences Summer is not the best time for flowers in our aloe garden, as most South African aloes bloom in winter. It is only the small area down here in the Western Cape where the winter rainfall aloes bloom in summer. It is logical coming to think of it, flowering in summer result in seeds ready for the rain in winter and the opposite holds true for the summer rainfall aloes. However rainfall in the dry desert areas of Namibia is the mainly in summer but the aloes will bloom before or after winter if there was good rainfall, shifting the flowering times to make the most of the rain. . . .
Aloe asperifolia and the salt road along west coast Namibia We are on our way to see the desert aloe Aloe asperifolia. Driving along the salt road to Swakopmund and on to Walvis bay where we saw a large crane trying to pull out a stranded fishing boat. . . .
Aloe dichotoma and Aloe hereroensis in the southern Namibia. All endemic aloes are strictly protected in Namibia. Namibia has only 2 seasons, a long hot summer and a short cold winter. It is now September which should be spring, but here that is no option. The dry heat is not as depressing as humid heat of tropical countries, but the hot day temperatures reach dangerous levels in the sun. Namibia has 27 endemic aloe species. The habitat of some of these aloe species go over the borders into the neighbouring countries as plants do not grow inside political borders, but there are aloe species with a very small habitat inside Namibia only. This was not a tour to see all the aloes of Namibia, but a quick trip up to Windhoek with a day trip to Swakopmund visiting family. It is a pity that time was short.
via Cactus Blog on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
