A loe Nan Yan No.1 is a new cultivar of aloe cultured out of the cultivar of aloe barbadensis Mill after sequential hyd roponic cultivation in seawater and field cultivation under seawater stress.During the year from June 2003 to June 2004,afield experiment was conducted to make comparison in growth between Nan Yan No.1 and aloe barbadensis Mill irrigated with seawater in Yuedong,Hainan Province.Results show that 1) the two cultivars were more or less the same in yield when irrigated with freshwater,but Nan Yan No.1 was significantly higher than the other when irrigated with 30% and 60% seawater; 2) their responses to seawater stress varied between cultivars,i.e.Nan Yan No.1 cultivar did not change much in yield whether irrigated with 30% seawater or fresh water,but the other dropped significantly when fresh water was replaced with 30% seawater in irrigation; 3) irrigated with seawater the two cultivars were also significantly different in morphology or growth characteristics,e.g.Nan Yan No.1 was much taller than the other,but they were more or less the same in length,width and thickness of leaves; its root/shoot ratio increased with concentration of seawater in irrigation,while that of the other decreased a littlebit when it was irrigated with 30% seawater; when seawater concentration in irrigation was 30%,Nan Yan No.1 still showed orderly arrayed cells on the surface of leaves and distinct teats on the surface of cells,while the other began to lose its clear cell boundary and teats; when seawater concentration in irrigation was 60%; cell boundaries and stomatal structure were still quite clear with Nan Yan No.1,whereas only blurred cell boundary and damaged stomatal structure were found with the other; and 4) the two cultivar of aloe varied significantly in salt to lerant coefficient,and Nan Yan No.1 was awlays higher than the other when irrigated with seawater,regardless seawater concentration.