A revised generic classification for Aloe (Xanthorrhoeaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae) Author Grace, Olwen M. Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey TW 9 3 DS, United Kingdom. Email: o. grace @ kew. org & Botanic Garden & Herbarium, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Sølvgade 83 Opg. S, DK 1307 - Copenhagen K, Denmark. Email: NRonsted @ snm. ku. dk Author Klopper, Ronell R. Biosystematics Research and Biodiversity Collections Division, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X 101, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. Email: g. smith @ sanbi. org. za; r. klopper @ sanbi. org. za & H. G. W. J. Schweickerdt Herbarium, Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa. g.smith@sanbi.org.za Author Smith, Gideon F. Biosystematics Research and Biodiversity Collections Division, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X 101, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. Email: g. smith @ sanbi. org. za; r. klopper @ sanbi. org. za & H. G. W. J. Schweickerdt Herbarium, Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa. g.smith@sanbi.org.za Author Crouch, Neil R. School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa Author Figueiredo, Estrela Centre for Functional Ecology, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Universidade de Coimbra, 3001 - 455 Coimbra, Portugal Ethnobotany Unit, South African National Biodiversity Institute, P. O. Box 52099, Berea Road 4007, South Africa. & Department of Botany, P. O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa. Author Rønsted, Nina Botanic Garden & Herbarium, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Sølvgade 83 Opg. S, DK 1307 - Copenhagen K, Denmark. Email: NRonsted @ snm. ku. dk Author Van Wyk, Abraham E. H. G. W. J. Schweickerdt Herbarium, Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa. text Phytotaxa 2013 2013-01-07 76 1 7 14 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.76.1.2 journal article 10.11646/phytotaxa.76.1.2 1179-3163 5066711 Key to Aloe s. str. and its segregate genera 1. Dichotomously branched trees or large shrubs; leaves unspotted; dried leaves not persistent; flowers cylindrical to cylindric-ventricose, without a pronounced constriction above a bulbous basal swelling; perianth segments connate in lower half to almost free; mainly southern Africa, with an outlier species in Somalia ........................................... 2 - Not dichotomously branched trees or large shrubs; leaves variously spotted to unspotted; dried leaves persistent or not; flowers variously shaped, with or without a pronounced constriction above a bulbous basal swelling; perianth segments variously connate to free; widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, Arabia, Madagascar and western Indian Ocean Islands .............................................................................................................................................................. 3 2. Leaves rosulate, apex tapering; inflorescence branched; southern Africa, with an outlier species in Somalia ............. ................................................................................................................................................................... Aloidendron - Leaves distichous, apex rounded; inflorescence simple (unbranched); Western Cape , South Africa ( Cape Floristic Region ).............................................................................................................................................................. Kumara 3. Plants several-stemmed, shrubby or climbing; leaves spirally arranged, cauline dispersed, sheathing, separated by distinct internodes, unspotted; inflorescence usually simple; flowers cylindrical to slightly clavate or subventricose, sometimes slightly narrowed above the ovary, but without a pronounced constriction above a bulbous basal swelling; perianth segments ± connate; South Africa (mainly Western and Eastern Cape ), with one species just entering Swaziland ................................................................................................................................................... Aloiampelos - Plants acaulescent or with simple or branched stems; leaves rosulate or distichous, seldom cauline dispersed, usually not separated by distinct internodes, variously spotted to unspotted; inflorescence variously branched or simple; flowers variously shaped, with or without a pronounced constriction above a bulbous basal swelling; perianth segments variously connate to almost free; widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, Arabia, Madagascar and western Indian Ocean Islands .......................................................................................................................................................... Aloe