ALOE SOCOTORINA.

Liliacea.

SOCOTORINE ALOE.

Class VI. HEXANDRIA. Order I. MONOGYNIA.

Gen. Char. Corolla erect, mouth spreading, bottom nectariferous. Filaments inserted into the receptacle.

Spe. Char. Flowers in corvmbs, sub-cylindrical, peduncled, drooping.

The stem, like all of the Aloe tribe, is erect, from one to two feet in height, woody, leafless, and the lower part very rough, from the remains of decayed leaves. "At top it is embraced by green, sword-shaped, ascending leaves, somewhat concave on their upper surface, convex beneath, curved inward at the point, with numerous small white serratures at their edges; the flowers, which are cylindrical, simple raceme, are scarlet near the base, pale in the centre, and greenish at the summit, and have unequal stamens, of which three are longer than the corolla."

The plant received its name from the island of Socotra, of which it is a native, and where the genuine "Socotorine Aloes is produced. This island lies in the straits of Babelmandel, about forty leagues to the east of cape Guardafui; but we are informed that a large portion of what is sold under that name, is prepared in the kingdom of Melinda, upon the eastern coast of Africa, and some in the neighboring parts of Arabia. It is said that the commerce in this variety of Aloes is carried on chiefly by the maritime Arabs, who convey it either to India, or up the Red Sea, by the same channel through which it