• Aloes grow as rosettes of fleshy leaves, often with toothed margins.Aloe image by tina7si from Fotolia.com
  
  Most of the 350 species in the Aloe genus are native to mainland Africa and neighboring areas such as Madagascar and the Arabian Peninsula. The largest species, such as Aloe bainesil, grow trunks and can be 60 feet high. Other aloe species are ground hugging and only a few inches high. Aloe plants thrive in full sun and need well-drained soil. They do not tolerate temperatures below about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
  

Aloe Vera

• Aloe vera is grown for the medicinal properties of its sapCream with Aloe Vera image by pequliar from Fotolia.com
  
  The exact native range of aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) is unknown because it has been in cultivation for thousands of years. Grown for the medicinal qualities of its sap as well as its ornamental value, aloe vera is a large aloe up to 2 feet high and 3 feet across. Its erect leaves are fleshy with a tough but smooth skin and thorns along the margins. Aloe vera plants produce long spikes of yellow flowers. They can be propagated from seed or by separating offshoots from the base.
  
  

Fan Aloe

• A large, multi-branched aloe species, the fan aloe (Aloe plicatilis) from South Africa's Cape Province can reach 15 feet. Its strap-like leaves grow as a flattened fan at the end of thick branches. The orange flowers grow on small spikes of up to 30 flowers. Aloe plicatilis is a slow-growing aloe that grows in full sun but needs plenty of water during the hottest months of the years. It can be propagated from seed or from branch cuttings planted in sandy soil in the sun.
  
  

Soap Aloe

• The soap aloe (Aloe saponaria) from southern Africa grows as a stemless rosette of pointed, fleshy leaves about a foot high and across. The leaves are speckled with pale, whitish patches and have toothed margins. Soap aloe grows well in sunny or partially shady conditions and sends up a long-lasting, 2-foot, purplish spike of yellow to reddish tubular flowers. Soap aloe sap can be used as a soap substitute.
  
  

Aloe bellatula

• Aloe bellatula hails from high-altitude Madagascar at around 4,500 feet. Its leaves, up to 10 inches long, are fine and almost grass like with very small marginal teeth and white spots. Aloe bellatula forms dense clumps. The orange, tubular flowers appear on a long and fine spike during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
  
  

Aloe Ferox

• Large Aloe ferox specimens can be up to 10 feet tall with a dense rosette of leaves up to 3 feet long crowing a single, woody trunk. Old leaves often remain on the trunk giving the appearance of having a skirt. It produces a branched flower spike with up to five columns of fiery, orange flowers. Aloe ferox thrives in full sun with well-drained and nutrient-poor soil.