Native to North Africa, there are at least 250 species of aloe plants out there.
Aloe plants are often mistaken with hawthorn, gasteria and agave plants.
To easily identify aloe plants, you have to look for the fleshiness and shape of their leaves.
This is what sets them apart from its lookalikes.
Aloe leaves are typically triangular in shape and are extra fleshy.
This is the substance extracted for herbal supplements, cosmetics, shampoos, and soaps.
Agaves do not have this gel.
Types of aloe plants
In general, aloe plants thrive best in full sun and partial shade.
It is drought tolerant, reaching a height of 8ft and a width of 4ft.
It blooms orange and yellow flowers from spring to winter.
It thrives in water neglect and can tolerate a temperature that is not lower than 25F.
Aside from their upright flowers, they also feature red orange spikes during the colder seasons.
It is typically seen in Mediterranean style succulent gardens.
It is attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Its gel is extracted for food supplements, skin care products, shampoo, and medicine.
Its main upside is its total resistance to drought.
It sports beautiful blue green leaves with red lining.
When in full sun, the leaves tend to become purple.
This one is a disease-resistant aloe and blooms masses of red flowers during winter.
It bloomsyellow flowersat youth but loses the ability to bloom one as the plant grows older.
7.Cape Aloe (Aloe Ferox)
This one is a large aloe, endemic in desert conditions.
Each leaf of the cape aloe has spines and lots of teeth running down their length.
They feature long and upright red ororange flowers.
Like the Barbados aloe, their gel is also extracted for food supplements and skin care products.
It sprouts from a single, branchless trunk with striking dry, dead looking leaves forming a bearded look.
The leaves have reddish brownish red thorns and blooms yellow flowers all through summer.
9.Climbing Aloe (Aloe Ciliaris)
This fast-growing aloe, while thin, is actually very sturdy.
It is well-loved for its tube-shaped flowers of red orange color and sporting yellow tips.
Its high ornamental value is notable.
Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds are drawn to its color.
It features flat and broad leaves sporting grayish-green color.
In full sun, the leaves turn into pink and in full shade, turns into purplish-blue.
It gets its name from its dense coral-colored flowers blooming from winter to spring.
They can be used as border or accent plants but they are more popular as container plants.
This is an award-winning aloe because it is disease and deer resistant.
12.Gold Toothed Aloe (Aloe Nobilis)
This rare aloe is indeed one for the books.
For starters, it has very unique rose-tipped leaves and yellow spikes.
Forming into a rosette, they bloom red-orange flowers that are perfect for your winter garden.
It is also a beautiful fit for succulent gardens.
They thrive in full sun and grow to up to 12-inches.
Its leaves still have the usual rosette form, sporting a gray green or blue green color.
The foliage also has a waxy surface and blooms tiny white flowers from late spring to mid-spring.
This aloe plant prefers more shade than sun.
The leaves are scarlet colored and it blooms tiny white or yellow flowers year-round.
As a cold climate aloe, it requires more shade and could tolerate near freezing point temperatures.
It is sometimes confused for the hawthorn plant because of their white bristles all over.
They are globular in shape and strike dark green leaves.
They are native to South Africa and grow up to 9-inches.
They sturdy, drooping leaves that are toothed on the edges.
They bloom long stalks of red flowers in the spring, attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.
It is unique because it follows the growth of somepalm trees.
It blooms dense yellow and red flowers during winter, making it a standout specimen tree in your garden.
Its leaves grow at 2ft and the whole plant can be at 4ft maximum.
During winter, masses of bright pink flowers bloom.
They are beautiful for raised beds and as indoor container plants.
It is called as such because of its pungent smell, resonating rat odors.
It grows to up to 8ft tall and is already considered poisonous in Africa.
20.Red Aloe (Aloe Cameronii)
This rare aloe gets its name from its copper red leaves.
They thrive in arid and drought conditions so they are sensitive to overwatering.
It is native to South Africa and grows at a maximum height of 24-inches.
They bloom like daisy-hibiscus flowers in the summer.
It has extra sharp spines and teeth so ensure that you have gloves when tending them.
This one is a sturdy aloe and can survive temperatures not lower than 25C.
Its upside is its drought tolerance.
Just growing at 4-inches in maximum, it makes a good ground cover for gardens.
It sports grey-green leaves, with streaks of orange all over.
It blooms orange flowers from fall to winter.
The leaves are stiff and spiky and they are unique for their unique, globular flowers.
They thrive in warm and dry regions, and as such, are often called the mountain aloe too.
It grows to up to 36-inches so it can work as a sturdy border plant in a summer garden.
They are slow growing aloes that do not require cutting.
As a matter of fact, the more you cut the leaves, the more disorderly the leaves become.
Its rosettes are gapped at 1-2ft across and its maximum height is just 1ft.
It sports bright green leaves with tinges of yellow.
It blooms striking, orange flowers with greenish tips during winter, and grows at a height of 12-inches.
However, they are now considered endangered in South Africa.
They are propagated through offsets.
Its bright green impact in the garden is notable.
In full sun, the color turns to reddish brown.
It has large, spiky leaves, growing to up to 3ft.
Its spikes are also multicolored as they come in deep red, cream, yellow, and brownish red.
The whole plant can grow to up to 10ft and are well-loved by hummingbirds.
29.Torch Aloe (Aloe Arborescens)
This one is also called the Krantz aloe.
Here is another ornamental aloe that you should know of.
Its leaves are sword shaped with spikes that become red orange come winter.
It also blooms multicolored flowers in spring and winter.
It tends to grow on a shrubby habit at 10ft in height and width.
It is perfect as an accent, border, and container plant.
It grows tall to 30ft with dense, drooping rosettes and upright, pinkish-red flowers blooming during winter.
They are native to South Africa and thrive best in warmer locations.
It is a unique aloe plant because it turns red when it is exposed to much sunlight.
But the most striking characteristic of this aloe plant is its spicy scent when the leaves are crushed.
They are usually planted in conservatories but also fare well as landscape plants.
On the top list would be the agave, gasteria and the haworthia plants.
1.Agave
This one is the most comparable with aloe because they sport the same triangular leaves.
However, it is larger than aloes and its leaves do not contain a gel substance like aloes do.
It instead has a fibrous leaf interior and minimal nectar at the leaf base when snapped.
Its spikes are also larger and are very sharp.
Its leaves also do not have spikes.
It is also unique for its smooth surface so it is easy to differentiate it from aloe or agave.
Here are some of the most notable aloe vera benefits that affirm why it is a sought-after aloe plant.
1.Digestive cleansing
Aloe vera is considered a laxative thanks to its aloin content.
This substance has anthraquinone which helps in bowel movement and metabolism.
2.Treating skin conditions
This one is a wide held aloe vera benefit.
It also has antioxidants that help in naturally maintaining skins youthful stretch and glow.
Specifically, the triglyceride levels of people with key in 2 diabetes improved.
High triglyceride is a risk factor for heart disease and cholesterol abnormalities.
Although further studies are still recommended to establish this, it is a promising aloe vera benefit.
FAQs
Which jot down of aloe vera is poisonous?
These species would be the Aloe ballyi, Aloe elata, and Aloe ruspoliana.
Fortunately, the ballyi and the elata are very rare.
Nonetheless, you still have to know which is which for safety purposes.
Which jot down of aloe plant is good for the skin?
Of all aloe plants, aloe vera is considered as the aloe plant that is best for the skin.
The reason for this is its high Vitamin A, C, and antioxidant content.
They also have an anti-inflammatory effect.
