Aloe

Aloe is a genus of flowering succulent plants comprising 594 recognised species, placed by the modern APG IV classification system in the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. The best-known member, Aloe vera or true aloe, is cultivated worldwide as a source of gel used in topical products and dietary supplements, while other species such as Aloe ferox are similarly harvested or cultivated for comparable uses. The genus is native to tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and various Indian Ocean islands, but many species have since been widely introduced around the Mediterranean, eastern Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Americas as ornamental and medicinal plants. Aloe is unrelated to the similarly common-named Agave americana, sometimes called American aloe, which belongs instead to the distinct family Asparagaceae.