Bitter aloe

In winter thousands of bitter aloes light up the slopes of the Eastern Cape with orange flower candles, and their bitter sap is a well-known remedy.

The bitter aloe is a single-stemmed succulent growing to 2–3 m, clad in a skirt of dried leaves and topped with a large rosette of thick, grey-green leaves with red spines along their edges. In winter it sends up a branched inflorescence with dense, upright spikes of red-orange flowers pollinated by birds. It grows on dry, stony slopes and in scrub. Cut leaves ooze a bitter yellow sap that is made into a laxative, while the inner leaf yields a gel used in cosmetics.

Significance in the country

Tapping bitter aloe sap is a tradition dating back to the 18th century – “Cape aloes” from around Albertinia are still exported today. Flowering aloes are a constant feature of the winter landscape of the Karoo and the Eastern Cape.

Where it grows

From the eastern Western Cape (around Swellendam and Albertinia) through the whole of the Eastern Cape to southern KwaZulu-Natal and the south-eastern Free State.

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