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The ALOE VERA Plant
Aloe is a genus of succulent, flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae,
which contains about 400 different species. They are native to the drier parts
of Africa, especially South Africa's Cape Province and the mountains of tropical
Africa.
Aloe plants are stiff and rugged, consisting mainly of a rosette of large,
thick, fleshy leaves. Many common varieties of Aloe are seemingly stemless, with
the rosette growing directly at ground level; Other varieties may mave a
branched or un-branched stem from which the fleshy leaves spring. The leaves are
generally lance-shaped with a sharp apex and a spiny margin. They vary in color
from grey to bright green and are sometimes striped or mottled.
Aloe flowers are small, tubular, and yellow or red and are borne on densely
clustered, simple or branched leafless stems.
Aloe Vera often called the Miracle Plant,
the Natural Healer, the Burns Plant, goes by many names which have survived the
4000 or so years during which this amazing medicinal herb has benefited mankind.
George Ebers in 1862 first discovered its
antiquity in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, dated 3500 BC, which was in fact a
collection of herbal remedies. Other researchers have since found it was used by
both the ancient Chinese and Indian cultures. Greek and Roman physicians such as
Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder used it to great effect and legend suggests that
Aristotle persuaded Alexander the Great to capture the island of Socotra in the
Indian Ocean to get its rich supply of aloe to heal his wounded soldiers. The
Egyptian queen Neferetiti and Cleopatra rated it highly as a beauty therapy.
Although the above mentioned 400 species of
aloe, there are probably only four or five with medicinal properties. Of these,
Aloe Barbedensis Miller, also known as Aloe vera Linne, is one of the most
potent, and the only one to be exploited on an industrial scale. It is the only
one entitled to be known as Aloe Vera or True Aloe. Aloe Vera is a
succulent, looking rather like a cactus but is in fact a member of the lily
family related to onions, garlic and asparagus. When mature the contents of its
leaves, a mixture of inner gel and outer sap can be harvested, preserved and
bottled to provide a product that is as near to the natural plant gel as it can
get.
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