Cape aloe
Aloe ferox
Cape aloe (Aloe ferox) is a bold, single-stemmed tree-aloe and the source of the bitter aloe of commerce. GBIF gives its native range as the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa and into Lesotho, part of the Cape Floristic and Karoo succulent flora. It builds a thick trunk clothed in a skirt of old dried leaves, topped with a big rosette of thick, blue-green, red-toothed, spiny leaves, and in winter sends up tall candelabra spikes of orange-red (sometimes yellow) flowers that are a superb cold-season nectar source — in the wild they are pollinated by sunbirds. It is an architectural, extremely drought-tolerant succulent for full sun and very sharp drainage: the number-one way to kill it is overwatering, because wet, cold soil rots the roots and crown faster than drought ever will, so water sparingly and never let it sit wet. It is frost-tender — RHS rates it H3, hardy only to a light frost — so outside warm, dry climates it is best grown large in a pot and moved under cover for winter. The bitter yellow leaf latex (the source of the laxative drug "Cape aloes") is a strong purgative and is toxic if eaten, so the plant is not food. Hardy outdoors in roughly USDA zones 9a-11; everywhere colder it lives under cover.
Climate fit: narrow (21/100)
Focal point
Structure
Light
Full sun
Water
Low water
Mature size
72-120" tall · 36" apart
Hardy in zones
9a-11
frosty to nearly frost-free winters
Native in Illinois
No
Not a food plant.
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Won't grow here
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Won't grow here
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✕
Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 32 ecoregions — 22 climate-resilient through 2070 · 10 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.
Arizona Mountains forests
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Atlantic coastal pine barrens
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California coastal sage and chaparral
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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Chihuahuan desert
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Chilean Matorral
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Eastern Australian temperate forests
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Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests
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Edwards Plateau savanna
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Plant this, not that
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Educator packet
Plant packet
Cape aloe educator packet
Cape aloe (Aloe ferox) is a bold, single-stemmed tree-aloe and the source of the bitter aloe of commerce. GBIF gives its native range as the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa and into Lesotho, part of the Cape Floristic and Karoo succulent flora. It builds a thick trunk clothed in a skirt of old dried leaves, topped with a big rosette of thick, blue-green, red-toothed, spiny leaves, and in winter sends up tall candelabra spikes of orange-red (sometimes yellow) flowers that are a superb cold-season nectar source — in the wild they are pollinated by sunbirds. It is an architectural, extremely drought-tolerant succulent for full sun and very sharp drainage: the number-one way to kill it is overwatering, because wet, cold soil rots the roots and crown faster than drought ever will, so water sparingly and never let it sit wet. It is frost-tender — RHS rates it H3, hardy only to a light frost — so outside warm, dry climates it is best grown large in a pot and moved under cover for winter. The bitter yellow leaf latex (the source of the laxative drug "Cape aloes") is a strong purgative and is toxic if eaten, so the plant is not food. Hardy outdoors in roughly USDA zones 9a-11; everywhere colder it lives under cover.
Scientific name
Aloe ferox
Plant type
shrub
Hardiness
9a-11
Light
full-sun
Moisture
low
Spacing
36 inches
Classroom prompts
- Which plant traits are observations, and which are care recommendations?
- How would this plant fit change if the garden location moved warmer, colder, wetter, or drier?
- Which source-backed facts would you cite in a lesson handout?
Use the Sources & citations section below for page citation styles and the field-level source list.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Cape aloe (Aloe ferox). Retrieved 2026, June 27, from https://plotwright.com/plants/aloe-ferox
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
RHS Find a Plant
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
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Designer notes