Aloes are very popular and some of the most rewarding plants to cultivate. They make excellent accent plants owing to their often strange and inspiring architectures, as well as the bright flowers that offset the grey-green leaves. They are also very suitable as container plants and small aloes can be used very effectively as border plants at the edge of a bed. Although aloes are most often included in rockeries, their application in horticulture is not limited to this feature and they can be used in almost any setting and in conjunction with most common garden plants. Their natural adaptation to harsh and often arid climates makes aloes outstanding subjects for the water-wise garden. Aloe is a genus in the Asphodeloideae family containing about 600 species of flowering succulent plants. Aloes are sometimes confused with Agaves. Contrarily to Agaves, Aloe leaves contain a gel like sap. Another difference is that Aloes don’t die after blooming as most Agaves do.

Aloe aculeata is easily identified from other similar species by the noticeable tuberculate spines on the leaves. Aloe aculeata has been featured in a now discontinued South African nickel 10 cent coin. The common names Ngopanie, Sekope, Red Hot Poker Aloe and White Thorn Aloe have been recorded. The specie name ‘aculeata’ refers to the tuberculate spines on the leaves. Aloe aculeata is indigenous to South Africa and can be found in quite a few areas in the Northern Province and in the extreme northern parts of Mpumalanga and it also extends into Zimbabwe. Aloe aculeata is found in rocky areas in grassland and open bush veld. It forms a stemless Aloe with a single rosette up to 1 meter high and wide. The leaves of Aloe aculeata are long and quite broad at the base, 120mm wide, and are dull-green in colour. The leaves are curved inward which gives the rosette a rounded appearance. The leaf-margins are armed with reddish-brown triangular teeth.