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Aloe vera
Aloe vera - الألوفيرا
Description
Highly valued in natural medicine, it is used to soothe burns, moisturise the skin and boost the immune system. The name ‘aloe’ derives from the Arabic word for bitter or shiny substance. The adjective ‘vera’ comes from the Latin ‘verus’, meaning ‘true’.
The aloe vera in the garden was planted as hedges along the paths in the early 1940s.
Poem
The Heroic Qualities of Plants
1. Foresight, Endurance and Survival of the exiled
In the saharas of this world, where the earth
Is emptied, like a tomb, of the slightest humid breath
And plants crave the faintest shower,
The struggle for life is the struggle for water.
However, turning their foliage into prickles,
And so reducing their breath,
The Euphorbia and Cactus of the wild steppe
Skilfully overcome desiccation.
Leafless and resentful, they survive all the same;
Others have solved their problem differently,
By quenching their thirst with a semblance of steam.
The American Agave and the African Aloe
Draw from the gravel where their stems intertwine
To push up the sap of spring and the radiance of flowers!
Published in La Petite Cosmogonie Sentimentale. Collection “Poetic works” – Volume 6, Ed. De la Revue Phénicienne, 1ère édition – 2004
