Dear Justin, et. al., One of the best books around on the genus Aloe is Guide to the Aloes of South Africa by Ben-Erik van Wyk and Gideon Smith. The section on grass aloes has both aloes you’ve mentioned. In the description sections are the following: A. kniphofioides: “The plants are almost invariably solitary and stemless, with the leaf bases widening to form an underground, bulb-like structure.” A modesta: “Plants are small and fairly inconspicuous. The leaves are long and thin and the basal portions for a bulb-like swelling below the ground.” Etcetera and FYI. There’s a photo of the root structure of A. kniphofioides and it definitely looks bulbous. It also states that this aloe, Aloe inconspicua and A. modesta are the only S. African aloes with these distinguishing structures. All three are grass aloes. Interestingly, Aloe modesta is the only fragrant aloe of Africa and tolerates temperatures “well below freezing.” Pamela Pamela Slate P.O. Box 5316 Carefree AZ 85377