Aloes: flowering succulents

A couple of days ago my partner brought me a new plant to add to my collection (Pictured right). It is of the Aloe genus, which contains over 400 varieties.

I've just been doing some research on the genus and I've found some very interesting information.

All of the plants in the genus are flowering succulents, and are native to Africa. Most Aloes have rosettes of fleshy leaves.

The leaves are generally long and thick in the middle, tapering off to a point, with spiny edges and the color of the leaves varies from gray to bright green.

The flowers are frequently yellow, orange or red in color and tubular in shape.

Many Aloes have some amazing medical properties, and have been used in numerous ways over time. Aloes have been used in everything from drinks, and food to ointments, and hair styling gel. They are certainly a very amazing genus of plant.