Large Aloe Plants

Wooden Sword Aloe

• Wooden sword aloe is known scientifically as aloe arborescens, this variety of aloe is native to South Africa. It is used medicinally in Japan and its leaf juice is bitter. The blade-like leaf is thin and slender, and it does not produce much meat from its leaves. In the wild, it can grow to be 19 feet, but in most greenhouses, it tends to be around 2½ feet tall.

Cape Aloe

• Cape aloe is known scientifically as Aloe ferox. This plant has large and hard leaves and it is guarded by large thorns. It is tolerant to drought, and it produces large orange spikes of flowers in the late winter and early spring. It is a slow grower, but it can reach a full height of 12 feet and a diameter of 5 feet.

Aloe Barberae

• Aloe barberae is tall with a rounded crown. Its neat shape makes for a good focal point in the garden, and the plant's gray, smooth bark and green leaves are attractive even when the aloe barberae is not in flower. It produces pink flowers tipped with green. This aloe can reach a height of 50 feet in the wild, though cultivated specimens tend to be significantly smaller.

Quiver Tree

• The quiver tree, known scientifically as Aloe dichotoma, is found South Africa and Namibia. Its smooth branches are covered with a whitish powder that allows it to deflect the sun's rays and the bark is golden and divided into razor-sharp scales. It has branches that repeatedly fork and which are crowned with blue-green leaves. It produces bright yellow flower buds and it can grow to 22 feet tall.