DESCRIPTION:--Pseudobulbs ovoid, 5 cm. or more long, with a few ovate sheaths, 3-to 5-leaved; leaves elongate, linear, acute, somewhat fleshy, without prominent veins, conduplicate below, not articulated above the base, 15 to 30 cm. or more long, 2 to 2·5 cm. or more broad; scapes erect, stout, up to nearly 1 m. long, with several spathaceous sheaths; racemes long, somewhat lax, many flowered, flowers medium-sized, bracts ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 2 to 2·5 cm. long; pedicels 2 to 2·5 cm. long; sepals ovate to ovate-oblong, subacute or acute, reflexed, green, about 1 cm. long; petals spreading, broadly ovate or ovate-suborbicular, subobtuse, about 2 cm. long, bright yellow; lip 3-lobed, nearly as long as the petals; side-lobes suberect, short and transversely oblong, white with a few reddish lines; front lobe broadly elliptic, obtuse, reflexed at the sides, yellow with a few reddish lines at the base; disc convex, with 3 obtuse keels; spur very short, broadly conical, obtuse, column oblong, 6 mm. long (_Flora Capensis_). PLATE 168.--Fig. 1, plant much reduced: Fig. 2, median longitudinal section of flower; Fig. 3, bract; Fig. 4, anthers; Fig. 5, back view of anthers. F.P.S.A., 1925. [Illustration: 169.] PLATE 169. ALOE FEROX. _Cape Province_, _Natal_, _Transvaal_. LILIACEAE. Tribe ALOINEAE. ALOE, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 776. * * * * * =Aloe ferox=, _Miller, Gard. Dict._ ed. viii. No. 22; _Fl. Cap._ vol. vi. p. 326. * * * * * This species of _Aloe_ is unique among the South African representatives of the genus as being of some economic importance. The thick juice of the leaves yields the commercial product “aloes.” The method of preparing “aloes” is as follows: A hole is scooped in the ground and lined with a skin, and the cut ends of the leaves are placed on the skin so that the juice exudes and collects. The thick juice is then heated, and on cooling the “aloes” crystallise out. _Aloe ferox_ is very common in parts of the south-eastern Cape Province and in the midlands of Natal, and the plants form a very characteristic feature in the landscape. Plants may reach a height of 8 to 12 feet, and the simple stem is crowned with a dense rosette of leaves, while the lower portion of the stem is covered with the remains of the leaves. Our plate was prepared from a specimen flowering at the Division of Botany, Pretoria.