#6 Aloe vera Common Names: medicinal aloe, burn plant, Barbados aloe, unguentine cactus Family: Liliaceae (lily Family) Get link to this Profile or click for data record #6 e-mail this page

This medicinal aloe plant lives in the succulent garden at the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami, Florida.

Location
Medicinal aloe is believed to have originated in northern Africa, the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands. It has escaped cultivation and established in the Florida Keys, throughout the Caribbean, and in tropical areas worldwide. It is grown commercially, especially in the Netherlands Antilles, for the sap which is used medicinally.

Culture
Medicinal aloe is easy to grow in sandy or gravelly, well-drained soil.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Moisture: Drought tolerant.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 8 - 11.
Propagation: Propagate medicinal aloe by separating the offset "pups."

Medicinal aloe produces huge showy flower stalks in late winter and spring.

Features
The clear gel-like sap that oozes from cut aloe leaves has been shown to help burns and wounds heal faster and to reduce the risk of infection. Aloe gel is a soothing and effective first aid remedy for minor burns and scrapes and for sunburn. It is available commercially in a wide variety of preparations including first aid creams, shampoos, and soaps. The dried sap is known as "bitter aloes" (as is that of a related species, Aloe ferox). Whichever the source species bitter aloes is a very potent laxative.

There are about 300 species of Aloe, mostly from Africa. The aloes are sometimes confused with the agaves, but the latter (in the family Agavaceae) have fibrous leaves whereas the leaves of aloes are juicy and not at all fibrous.

Steve Christman 2/20/00; updated 11/29/03, 7/17/05

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