Aloe vera, a thick, long-leaved plant native to Africa, can now be found across the globe. Although once unique to the African continent, aloe vera is becoming an increasingly familiar sight in many other places around the world like the West Indies, the Middle East and Australia; the succulent plant also makes frequent appearances in North American windowsills, nurseries and health food stores, its increase in location coinciding with the plant’s growing popularity in the gardening and medicinal world. Recognized as both a decorative plant for the home and a natural healing agent and toxin for the body, aloe vera has many uses, its multifaceted nature accounting for much of its spread to other regions. No longer is aloe vera a foreign, African plant: as the plant continues to be naturalized, spreading and growing in new environments, it will become an even bigger global force to be reckoned with.

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Because aloe vera has many health benefits and medicinal uses, it is cultivated for commercial use in many regions across the globe.

Commercial Growing of Aloe Vera: Plantations

According to Davies (2000), aloe vera is cultivated around the world, especially on plantations in

• Mexico
• Australia
• the Caribbean
• Rio Grande Valley (southern Texas)

Why is the Rio Grande Valley an Aloe Hotspot?

The Rio Grande Valley, which stretches around 43,000 square miles, is the area of fertile land that surrounds the Rio Grande river. Although located in southern Texas, the Valley has environmental conditions that mimic the African climate, making it a suitable place for aloe vera to not only grow but thrive (Vigness & Odintz, 2010). Aloe vera, a succulent native to northern Africa, is accustomed to the soil, water patterns, and temperature of the African continent (Davies, 2000).  With soil and weather similar to that of Africa,  the Rio Grande Valley is an optimal growing place for the cactus-like plant. In fact, the Valley has become the “largest area of Aloe Vera cultivation” (Davies, 2000, pg.9). Here is a more in-depth look at the two main ways the Valley is like Africa:

1. The Soil: Many aloe vera growing guides suggest that you add sand, granite grit, or perlite to regular potting soil when planting an aloe vera, as the plant is used to growing in the rocky, open areas of African mountains. Using course, gritty materials to create a soil will help promote the proper drainage of the picky plant (Backyard Gardner, 2006; Davies, 2000). Therefore, the mixture of

• sand
• clay
• silt

that makes up the soil of the Rio Grande Valley aligns with the aloe vera’s needs (Davies, 2000). Because the Valley is built upon a delta, the river deposits these large amounts of rich sandy soil along its banks, making it ideal agricultural land for many plants including the aloe vera (Vigness & Odintz, 2010).

2. The Weather: The weather of the Rio Grande Valley can be described as warm and humid (Davies, 2000).  Equipped with leaves that retain moisture and a shallow root system that can suck up water in the soil during dry spells, the aloe vera is evolutionarily prepared to take on arid, sunny climates (Davies, 2000; Lawless & Allan, 2000). Growing aloe vera in the Valley therefore caters to the plant’s anatomy, allowing it to be cultivated there year-round  (Davies, 2000).

Different Plantation, Different Aloe Vera

Depending on where aloe vera was grown, it quality will vary. Buying nonpasteurized and organic aloe vera products that have an International Aloe Science Council (IASC) Seal of Approval is often advised to ensure the purchase of quality aloe vera (Davies, 2000).

References

Backyard Gardener. (2006, March 1). Growing aloe vera. Yavapai County: Arizona Cooperation

Extension. Retrieved from http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/aloevera.html

Davies, J. R. (2000). Aloe vera. Shaftesbury, Dorset: Element Books Limited.

Lawless, J., & Allan, J.(2000). Aloe vera: Natural wonder cure. Great Britain: Woolnough Bookbinding Ltd.

Vigness, D. M., & Odintz, M. (2010, June 15). Rio Grande Valley. Retrieved from

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ryr01

Most people know the aloe vera as a spiky and thick-leaved succulent that produces yellow, tubular flowers in the summer months, but this plant comes from a long line of aloe species. In order to full understand the aloe vera, it is important to acquaint yourself with other members of its family.

Aloe Vera Family Tree: Defining the Aloe

Aloe vera is often filed under the Liliaceae, or Lily, family, which consists of mainly flowering, bulbous plants. This succulent, however, belongs in a different category: recently, the plant has been given a family all its own, thanks to Dr. Tom Reynolds of the Jodrell Laboratory at Kew Gardens.  The Aloaceae family is now the correct classification of the aloe vera (Lawless & Allan, 2000). The aloe vera, as with all aloe species, is also a par

The Royal Horticultural Society Gardeners’ Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers offers a concise definition of the aloe as a “genius of evergreen, rosetted trees, shrubs, perennials and scandent climbers with succulent foliage and tublar to bell-shaped flowers” (qtd. in Lawless & Alla, 2000). Considering there are approximately 350 varieties of aloe in the Aloaceae family, all of which vary greatly in size, shape, and color, this definition is apt for the plant. 132 species of aloe vera can be found in south Africa alone (Lawless & Allan, 2000).

Members of the Aloaceae Family

Although they fall under the same family, many aloe species can be very different from one another not only in shape but also size. Plants of the Aloaceae family often produce blossoms of cream, rose, orange, red, and other autumn hues (Lawless & Allan, 2000), but aloe’s color also varies depending on the species being discussed. Let’s learn about the different types of aloes:

Miniature Aloes:  Two types of miniature aloes are the Aloe aristata Aloe brevifolia (Lawless & Allan, 2000).

Small Aloes: Aloe striata is small in size; its pale green leaves sometimes have a pink tint and a coral red lines the edges of its leaves. Pinkish red and orange are the colors of its flowers, and the blossoms resemble a chunk of coral found in the sea (Lawless & Allan, 2000).

Large Aloes: Aloe ferox and Aloe arborescens are two examples of large aloes, the latter referred to as a Tree-Aloe by James Backhouse in his 19th century novel A Narrative of a Visit to Mauritius and South Africa due to its enormous height and tree-like structure. The Aloe arborescens goes by another name in the Afrikaans language: Kokerboom, which means “Quiver Tree.” The aloe is so massive that its branches were used to make quivers (Lawless & Allan, 2000).

Aloe Vera’s Close Relatives

Although aloe vera is no longer considered a member of the Lily family (Liliaceae), the succulent is still related to the lily family as well as to many other plants, including but not limited to:

• onion
• garlic
• asparagus

And just like the health-boosting aloe vera, these relatives of the aloe also have medicinal properties (Lawless & Allan, 2000).

References

Lawless, J., & Allan, J.(2000). Aloe vera: Natural wonder cure. Great Britain: Woolnough Bookbinding Ltd.