The Pemba aloe differs from these species by its growth into dense clumps, its flower colour, and its longer inflorescence.

Its multi-branched inflorescence bears red flowers in racemes, and its seeds develop in fleshy berries.

[3] While it was formerly widespread across Pemba and surrounding islands, it now only occurs on Misali island, off the Pemba coast, where it grows in dappled shade in the sandy coastal scrub.

[4][5] The Pemba aloe occurs over an extremely small area, with only a few hundred individual plants remaining in the wild.

It is currently threatened by habitat degradation, trampling by fishermen and collection for traditional medicine.