Aloe is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants. The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Other species, such as Aloe ferox, are also cultivated or harvested from the wild for similar applications.
Aloe is a genus of succulent plants, which includes several species:
Aloe vera is a succulent plant species of the genus Aloe. It is widely distributed, and is considered an invasive species in many world regions.
Aloe arborescens, the krantz aloe or candelabra aloe, is a species of flowering succulent perennial plant that belongs to the genus Aloe, which it shares with the well known and studied Aloe vera. The specific epithet arborescens means "tree-like". Aloe arborescens is valued by gardeners for its succulent green leaves, large vibrantly-colored flowers, winter blooming, and attraction for birds, bees, and butterflies.
Aloe camperi is a species of aloe indigenous to Africa, specifically the regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Aloe succotrina, the Fynbos aloe, is an aloe which is endemic to Cape Town and the south-western corner of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Aloe polyphylla, the spiral aloe, kroonaalwyn, lekhala kharetsa, or many-leaved aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Aloe that is endemic to the Kingdom of Lesotho in the Drakensberg mountains. An evergreen succulent perennial, it is well known for its strikingly symmetrical, five-pointed spiral growth habit.
Aloe marlothii is a large, single-stemmed Southern African aloe of rocky places and open flat country, occasionally growing up to 6 m tall.
Aloe suzannae is an endangered species of plant in the genus Aloe, indigenous to the south of Madagascar.
Aloin, also known as barbaloin, is a bitter, yellow-brown colored compound noted in the exudate of at least 68 Aloe species at levels from 0.1 to 6.6% of leaf dry weight, and in another 17 species at indeterminate levels [Reynolds, 1995b]. It is used as a stimulant-laxative, treating constipation by inducing bowel movements. The compound is present in what is commonly referred to as the aloe latex that exudes from cells adjacent to the vascular bundles, found under the rind of the leaf and in between it and the gel. When dried, it has been used as a bittering agent in commerce [21 CFR 172.510. Scientific names given include Aloe perryi, A. barbadensis, A. ferox, and hybrids of A. ferox with A. africana and A. spicata.]. Aloe is listed in federal regulations as a natural substance that may be "safely used in food" when used "in the minimum quantity required to produce their intended physical or technical effect and in accordance with all the principles of good manufacturing practice." This food application is generally limited to use in quite small quantities as a flavoring in alcoholic beverages and may usually be identified only as a "natural flavor."
Aloe maculata, the soap aloe or zebra aloe, is a Southern African species of aloe. Local people in South Africa know it informally as the Bontaalwyn in Afrikaans, or lekhala in the Sesotho language.
Aloe striata, with the common name coral aloe, is a small, stemless South African Aloe species.
Aloe albida is a dwarf species of succulent plant.
Aloe albiflora is a species of aloe indigenous to Madagascar with narrow, muricate leaves and widely campanulate, snow-white flowers that are 10mm long and 14mm across the mouth. Its nearest affinity, based on leaf characters only, is Aloe bellatula.
Aloe rauhii is a rare succulent and highly drought-resistant plant endemic to Madagascar. It is named after Professor Werner Rauh, who was a professor of Botany at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
Harold Basil Christian was a South African-born Rhodesian farmer, horticulturist, and botanist. Christian attended Eton College in the United Kingdom, where he was a distinguished athlete. He served in the Imperial Light Horse of the British Army during the Second Boer War, during which he fought in the Siege of Ladysmith. In the decade after the war, he worked in what is now South Africa for De Beers and later as an engineer for a mining company. In 1911, Christian moved to Rhodesia. There, he purchased a sizable farm, which he named Ewanrigg. He was best known for his study and cultivation of aloe on his extensive estate, which was donated to the state upon his death and became a national park.
Aloe harlana is a species of Aloe found in eastern Ethiopia. It was first described by Gilbert Reynolds in 1957.
Aloe tororoana is a species of Aloe native to southeast Uganda. The name references Tororo Rock which was then thought to be where the species was endemic to.
Aloe wilsonii is a species of Aloe from northern Uganda and northwestern Kenya. It grows on rocky slopes at altitudes between 1500 and 3000 m. The species was first formally described by the botanist Gilbert Westacott Reynolds in 1956.
