A stand of Aloe africana plants in habitat, or even in a modified habitat next to an Eastern Cape main road, is a joy for all that scan the countryside in passing. A thing of beauty, yes! But a joy forever as Keats thought in his time?

The less than poetic world we live in today adds conditions for joy: care for the environment, it is under severe strain. There are rules: No bottles, plastic, paper or cigarette butts from the car window or the picnic. Safeguard the beauty spots along the roads and in the neighbourhood.

This and more have to be done by people, not only by the official authorities existing somewhere out of sight. As the people become more, the list of requirements is getting longer, but the alternative is too ghastly to contemplate (Reynolds, 1974; Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Jeppe, 1969; Coates Palgrave, 2002).