An A. barberae planted at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in Cape Town in 1922 had by 2011 grown to have a basal diameter (not girth) of ten feet (three meters).

She sent specimens of the plant and its flowers to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where in 1874 it was named by William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928) in her honor.

[5] The tree aloe's habitat is subtropical coastal forests, kloofs (ravines) and dry valleys in the eastern regions of southern Africa.

Aloidendron barberae is widely distributed from the Eastern Cape through KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini and Mpumalanga; and northwards to Mozambique and East Africa.

[3] Aloidendron barberae forms a striking focal point in the garden, being an enormous sculptural tree with a neat crown.