Spotted Aloe – (Aloe zerbina)

Some plants you just grow up with. I always find it easy to draw things I have a connection with and know and the Aloe is one of those. Ever since I can remember there has been one growing somewhere in our garden. My mother would always pluck and smear on the slime from the leaf on our scrapes after a fall. I do the same with my kids and the animals. I have an aloe vera species growing in my garden here in the Emirates for that very purpose….

Spotted Aloe (Aloe zerbina)

A4 Artists sketch paper

Pencil crayon and B pencil

Living and traveling widely all over South Africa and Africa you see them like weeds in the more arid areas scattering themselves across the landscape in amongst rocky outcrops. I remember as a child breaking the leaves off and being fascinated by the thick alien looking slime that oozed from their succulent, fleshy ‘leaf’. I was a lot less enamored of the taste though…….

The specific name Aloe zerbina means striped like a zebra and refers to the markings on the leaves. The genus Aloe comprises of about 400 species. About 275 species are found in mainland Africa, 15 in Arabia and 40 in Madagascar. I have one variety growing in my garden here in the Emirates which I use often for medicinal purposes. They have so many amazing uses that have come down from the beginning of time. In parts of Africa the roots of the Aloe zerbina are among the main dyes for the Hyphaene palm fibres, which are used in weaving baskets, to give them a golden-yellow colour. The method was adopted for wool dyeing by European settlers who modified it to create better colours. The roots can easily be collected on a sustainable basis because of the plant’s ability to readily form new roots. The people along the Kunene River in Angola prepare cakes from the pressed and boiled flowers. The powdered stem and leaf bases are taken medicinally by women after delivery to cleanse their system. The (bitter) juice of many Aloe species is used as a disinfectant for wounds, as worm expellant and also to treat skin problems – just to name a few of their many uses.