PlantFiles: Quiver Tree, Kokerboom
Aloe dichotoma

My son had two beautiful aloe dichotoma trees in his front yard. One of them had developed five heads during the six years it had been happily in the ground. Imagine the frustration when he went outside and found it gone......STOLEN....... out of the yard with the empty hole to remind him of where it stood!

I got this one in a pot. Don't plant it in the ground in florida, it will rot . this one does fine in a pot in full sun, south exposure..I have never seen it for sale around here, had about 30 out of 100 seeds survive the first year with wet summer.

Good Aloe tree for the deserts of Arizona, just keep it away from excess irrigation as the roots are capable of stretching quite far and into the beds of your nearby flowers, veggies, etc. A local nursery learned that the hard way years ago when their large plant had stretched its roots under shrubs they regularly irrigated and the once beautiful specimen exists, sadly, no more. If you have a rocky slope, give this plant a try there!

Zone 9b Coastal Otago New Zealand
A Dichotoma is a super-cool and increasingly popular aloe down here, like hens teeth only a couple of years ago and now more readily available. Thus our knowledge of long-term care is limited, but it seems to be no more demanding than the other tree aloes, in spite of it's prima donna reputation.
Like most of the tree aloes, it seems to grow relatively faster in the southern hemisphere than up north but thats probably because we a not a xeriscape situation and have higher UV levels.
I find growing these beauties 'hard' - out in fullest, harshest sun you have access to, with a limited root run- is the best way to go; they attain a more adult look, are less likely to rot out. Go for a plain terracotta pot so you know it's drying out between waterings and wont 'sweat' as it would in plastic. I just dont like plastic pots for these water-sensitive aloes but everyone's got an opinion on that.
It's important to get the mix right for these guys; I use one quarter dedicated cactus mix, one quarter coarse, good quality outdoor tub mix and half pumice, and Ive never had a rot-out with this ratio. Please note that that's too 'dry' for many other aloes, and this mix succeeds where there is regular watering, otherwise you will stress the plant too much for good growth. I water twice a week in summer or even more.
I feed once a year with a little blood and bone or animal-derived fert, but dont pile it on and make sure not to let any settle around the base of the trunk etc.
We get light powder frosts here and the occasional crackly monster (interestingly, we also had a monster frost in 07 as experienced on the west coast of the US) so our winter conditions seem similar to SoCal. Dichotomas can take a light frost especially if dry but dont risk a zone 8 winter or even a nasty zone 9 one; theyre happy on a windowsill so save yourself some heartbreak! Under dry eaves they should be fine in zone 9.
Remove the older dried up leaves to reveal the satiny silver trunk- it's one of it's best features, as is the cool symmetrical layout of it's leaves (when young) when viewed from above, so site this plant where you can appreciate it's manifold wonders. A highly recommended aloe.

I saw a young one in Oakland that had to have a trunk almost a foot wide on a plant only three feet or so tall! And a local nursery has one for sale about eight feet tall with a massive base, for $2,000. Hurry-ha.
EDIT: 2009. The summer of 08 I planted a nice sized gallon plant..no troubles with our bay area winters. How fast they grow will depend of course on best case conditions. Mine is in a bit more shade and with some other large succulents. 33f and our rainy winters havent bothered it.

This is one of the most striking tree Aloes. It is relatively slow to grow, but it develops a massive, tapering, smooth (up top), papery-covered trunk with several branches topped by sea blue-green leaves. Lower trunk is cracked and has very rough, sharp edges etched in it. It makes an excellent specimen tree, and is great for xeroscaping. However, if given some water in well draining sandy soil, it will do even better(grow faster and become more robust). If overwatered in the summer months, it can rot. However, it seems to tolerate our deluge of cold winter rains here in So Cal without any problems, as long as it's not planted in mud. One of the most common mistakes by those growing Aloes is not watering enough. Without enough water, the leaves curl up a bit and necrose at the tips- not a good look. Drought will rarely kill it, but if you want it to look good, give it some water!