Common name:     Aloes, Red Hot Pokers and Grass Trees                              

Etymology:    From L. asphodelus, from Gk. asphodelos "asphodel, king's spear," and taken in poetic use for a mythical deathless flower in Hades.

Flowers:                  

• x

Fruit:                         

• x

Leaves:         

•     x   

Habit:        

•     x    

Habitat:                     

• The family has a wide but scattered distribution throughout the tropics and temperate zones

Species:                     

• World:            S,    G

• Australia:      S,    G

Additional notes:        

• Characters uniting the three subfamilies currently recognised:

  • The presence of anthraquinones 

  • The flowers (the inflorescence) are typically borne on a leafless stalk (scape) which arises from a basal rosette of leaves

  • The individual flowers have jointed stalks (pedicels)

  • A disk of woody tissue (a hypostase) is present at the base of the ovule

• The subfamilies are: 

  • Xanthorrhoeoideae contains only the genus Xanthorrhoea, native to Australia. Plants typically develop thick woody stems; the flowers are arranged in a dense spike. 

  •  Asphodeloideae are often leaf succulents, such as aloes and haworthias, although the subfamily also includes ornamental perennials such as red hot pokers (Kniphofia)

  • Hemerocallidoideae are varied in habit. Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are one of the widely grown members of this subfamily.