Its preferred habitat is sandy soils in open country, unlike many of its relatives that favour thicket vegetation.

[2] Locally, this plant is known as iKhalene in Xhosa, inTelezi in Fengu, and simply the fence aloe in English.

[3] A medium-sized, bushy plant that forms clumps up to 3 m tall, with leaves tufted at the ends of branches.

Like all species in the genus, flowers are borne on slender racemes and are usually bright yellow (although there are red-flowered forms, sometimes called var.

The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) does not recognize any varieties, treating them all as synonyms of the species.