Description
Family Aloaceae
Trees
, shrubs
, and succulents, perennial
, simple
to sparsely branched, rhizomatous
, some tuberous-thickened. Leaves simple, alternate, usually crowded at bases
of stems or ends of branches, sessile; blade
fleshy
, margins
often prickly, venation
parallel. Inflorescences terminal
, axillary
, or lateral
, spicate
, racemose, or paniculate
. Flowers 3-merous, short- to long-pedicellate, rarely sessile; perianth red, brown, yellow, orange, or whitish; tepals petaloid
, connivent or connate
basally to almost entirely into tube
, sometimes fleshy; stamens sometimes 3, usually 6, exserted or included
; anthers
dorsifixed
, dehiscence antrorse
; pollen grains
monosulcate; ovary 3-carpellate, placentation axile
, usually with septal nectaries; style terminal; stigmas punctate
, discoid
, or 3-lobed. Fruits capsular
, rarely baccate
, dehiscence loculicidal, apical. Seeds usually winged
or flattened.
Genera 5, species ca.
700 (1 genus, 2 species in the flora
) : all introduced
; Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, and Atlantic islands.
Aloaceae are closely related to and included by some authors
in Liliaceae.
The juice of some Aloe species is used to make a purgative
called bitter
aloe; active
ingredients include aloin and other anthraquinones
. Additionally, the thick, mucilaginous
gel
of some species is widely used to treat minor thermal burns
, itching, and sunburn.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Magnoliophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Flowering Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Liliopsida
()
- Scopoli, 1760
- Subclass:
Liliidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Lilianae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Asparagales
()
- Bromhead, 1838
- Suborder:
Asphodelineae
()
- Suborder:
Asphodelineae
(
- Order:
Asparagales
(
- Superorder:
Lilianae
(
- Subclass:
Liliidae
(
- Class:
Liliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Magnoliophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Bowiea
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 7 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
B. africana · B. gariepensis (Bowiea) · B. kilimandscharica · B. myriacantha · B. volubilis · B. volubilis gariepensis (Climbing Onion) · B. volubilis subsp. gariepensis
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed November 1, 2006.
- Carr, Gerald
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed January 01, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 14 providers.
- The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Jan 19, 2007.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 9334828
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:531996-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 531996-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 722377
Footnotes
- Walter C. Holmes & Heather L. White "Aloaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 12, 15, 18, 20, 410. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
