[3] Kumara plicatilis derives its common name fan-aloe from its former placement in the genus Aloe and the unusual distichous arrangement of its linear leaves.

The branches bear masses of succulent, oblong, tongue-shaped leaves arranged in 2 opposite rows in the shape of a fan.

[2] At the end of winter (August to October) the plants appear to burst into flames as they suddenly produce masses of bright pink flowers.

In the wild, Kumara plicatilis is confined to a tiny area in the Western Cape, between the town of Franschhoek and Elandskloof.

The fynbos biome consists of dense Mediterranean-type vegetation and a climate of dry hot summers and cold wet winters.

Few other members of the tribe Aloeae naturally occur in this corner of South Africa, the exceptions being the Fynbos aloe, Table Mountain's Aloiampelos commixta, and the fan-aloe's rare sister species Kumara haemanthifolia.

[2] It was reportedly hybridised with Gonialoe variegata by the horticulturalist Justus Corderoy, and the resulting hybrid (published as Aloe × corderoyi Berger) was cultivated at Kew Gardens and at La Mortola.