Aloe ferox is indigenous to South Africa’s Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZaulu-Natal and Lesotho. Its large natural range forms a near-continuous from almost as far as Cape Town eastwards to southern KwaZulu-Natal. The genus is native to tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar, Jordan, the Arabian Peninsula, and various islands in the Indian Ocean. A few species have also become naturalized in the Mediterranean, India, Australia and the Americas.
Commercially plants are propagated mainly from seed and head cuttings and sowed with approximately one meter separations. From seed it takes about 4 to 5 years for the plants to reach the first harvest. At the time of harvest each leaf weighs about 1.5 kg to 2 kg.
During the age of exploration, Spanish mariners realized the plant’s value and carried aloe on board to treat cuts, burns and chafing, while missionaries further spread word of its uses through the New World.
In the aftermath of the nuclear bombing of Japan in 1945, however, the plant’s status was elevated irrevocably when a scientist reported that radiation burns treated with an aloe extract healed considerably faster than what could be expected from any treatment. Since then, aloe preparations have also been applied to burns as a result of x-ray and radiation treatment.
Apart from skin care and medicinal products a palatable juice with an aloe ferox base is also available.
The FTF goes to: ChrisDen!