Flowering time is from winter to early spring (July to September in South Africa).

The thin, narrow leaves are more messy or disorderly than the neat symmetrical rosettes of other arborescent Aloe species.

They are arranged in a dense apical rosette and are spreading to recurved, firm linear-lanceolate, with a grey-green surface; each leaf's margins and lower side are armed with lines of small, reddish teeth, a feature common in the genus Aloe.

[1] The distinguishing features of this species therefore include: yellow-orange flowers that are bent to almost 90 degrees; racemes that are large, tall and tapering to a point; narrow spreading or recurved leaves, arranged in a relatively untidy rosette.

[2] This attractive species occurs in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where its distribution is centred on the area around Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage.