Plant in full sun and water occasionally to infrequently. Hardiness reports are that it is hardier than either of its parents and that it can tolerate temperatures down to at least 20° F though some claim it has been hardy only to 23°F. This is an attractive large aloe that has become very popular for use as a specimen tree in a dry garden.

Aloe 'Hercules' is a unique looking plant that is the result of a cross between the large Tree Aloe, Aloe barberae (A. bainesii), that is native the moister Eastern Cape province of South Africa north into Mozambique and the smaller Quiver Tree, Aloe dichotoma, that comes from the drier Northern Cape province of South Africa and Namibia. 'Hercules' exhibits hybrid vigor, growing faster than Aloe barberae with a heavier trunk, thicker branches and peeling bark with a tiger stripe pattern more typical of Aloe dichotoma but with greener leaves. It is sometimes confused with but quite different from both parents and is distinguishable from other tree aloes such as the yellow-orange flowering plant often referred to as the Medusa form of Aloe barberae and now described as Aloe tongaensis. This naturally occurring plant from Mozambique has smaller narrower pale green leaves and much thinner stems. Another plant that is somewhat similar is the hybrid between Aloe barberae and Aloe vaombe called Aloe 'Goliath', which has longer broader and brighter green leaves and has rosettes so heavy they are prone to break the stems. There is another tree aloe from Somalia that was originally included with Aloe barberae called Aloe eminens.

The origin of 'Hercules' is not well documented but was thought to first appear in Southern California gardens in the late 1970s. Many credited the plant to the renowned plantsman, the late Bill Baker (1947-2009), but others feel that Baker was the one who popularized the plant at his California Gardens Nursery in Reseda from a plant he originally got from Jim Gardner, a doctor living in Palos Verdes. In South Africa there is also a plant called Aloe 'Rex' with apparently the same parentage as 'Hercules' that was hybridized by Jaap Viljoen of Swellendam, South Africa. From pictures we have seen of this plant it looks quite similar but has yellow flowers.

In an interesting twist in the nomenclature of these tree aloes, an article in the Journal >i>Phytotaxa 76 (1): 7–14 (2013), titled "A revised generic classification for Aloe (Xanthorrhoeaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae)" proposes that the tree aloes (Aloe barberae, A. dichotoma, A. eminens, A. pillansii, A. ramosissima and A. tongaensis) be taken out of the genus aloe and given the name Aloidendron. Since both parents of this hybrid are in this group this plant too would become a cultivar of the genus Aloidendron. Other major name changes proposed in this article include the scrambling aloes (A. ciliaris, A. commixta, A. gracilis, A. juddii, A. striatula and A. tenuior) being put in the genus Aloiampelos and the Aloe plicatilis, the popular Fan Aloe, to be renamed Kumara disticha, a name that was used to described it by the German botanist Friedrich Kasimir Medikus in 1786. Our plants of 'Hercules' are cutting grown from stock we maintain at the nursery that were originally received in 2007 from tissue cultured plants produced by Rancho Tissued Technologies for their parent nursery Soledad Nursery. Though often thought to be different from the original Bill Baker form, Rancho Soledad reportedly got their original stock plants to be tissue cultured from Bill Baker. 

The information displayed on this page about Aloe 'Hercules' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.