The tree aloe is the tallest of the South African aloes and can reach 15 to 18m. It is found in a broad coastal band; that is slightly inland, from East London in the Eastern Cape through KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland and Mpumalanga into southern and central Mozambique. Its habitat is subtropical coastal forests, kloofs and well-drained river valleys, where the summer rainfall is at least 1 016 to 1 524 mm per annum, with little or no frost.