Aloe vera

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Species name: Aloe vera

Aloe vera, also known as the true or medicinal aloe, is a species of succulent plant that probably originated in the southern half of the Arabian peninsula, Northern Africa, the Canary islands and Cape Verde. Aloe vera grows in arid climates and is widely distributed in Africa, India and other arid areas. The species is frequently cited as being used in herbal medicine. Many scientific studies of the use of aloe vera have been undertaken, some of them conflicting. Despite these limitations, there is some preliminary evidence that Aloe vera extracts may be useful in the treatment of wound and burn healing, minor skin infections, Sebaceous cyst, diabetes and elevated blood lipids in humans. These positive effects are thought to be due to the presence of compounds such as polysaccharides, mannans, anthraquinones and lectins. (Source:Wikipedia)


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Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
Names of users who have contributed to this species page Gauravm
Date on which this page was first created 2010/12/10
This page was last modified on: 11 December 2010 05:05:47
Name of the species Aloe vera
ID on Encyclopedia of Life 1085598
Synonyms Please check Binomial Classification section for synonyms.
Common English Names Aloe vera, Medicinal aloe, Burn plant
Common Hindi Names Gheekumari घीकुमारी
Common Indian names Gheekumari घीकुमारी (Hindi); Khorpad (Marathi); கதலை Kathalai (Tamil); Chotthu kathalai (Malayalam) Flowers of India
Origins/Meanings of the common names

Taxonomy from Encyclopedia of Life

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{{#EoLOnlyHierarchy:1085598}} 

Taxonomy filled in form

Angiosperm phylogeny. This image is copyrighted. Rights owned by Theodore C.H.Cole (Heidelberg) and Hartmut H. Hilger (Berlin) 2010. Please obtain copyright permissions before reuse.
Click here for the PDF of the phylogeny
Taxon Value
Regnum (Kingdom) Plantae
Division Magnoliophyta
Class Liliopsida
Order Asparagales
Family Xanthorrhoeaceae
Genus Aloe
Source of data Encyclopedia of Life

Other closely related species

SpeciesDivisionCommon nameCommon Hindi name
Aloe veraAloe vera, Medicinal aloe, Burn plantGheekumari घीकुमारी
Acacia niloticaArabic Gum, Black Piquant, Egyptian thorn, Prickly acaciaबबूल Babool,कीकर Kikar
Saraca indicaAshokaअशोक Ashok
… further results
DivisionTaxon detailsTaxon morphology details
MagnoliophytaAlso called Angiospermae. The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms around 245–202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants known to exist are from 140 million years ago. They diversified enormously during the Lower Cretaceous and became widespread around 100 million years ago, but replaced conifers as the dominant trees only around 60-100 million years ago.These are seed plants like Gymnosperms, but can be differentiated by the presence of flowers, seeds containing endosperm and seeds that produce a fruit. Angiosperms are the most diverse and highly evolutionarily successful group of land plants.
SpeciesClassCommon nameCommon Hindi name
Aloe veraLiliopsidaAloe vera, Medicinal aloe, Burn plantGheekumari घीकुमारी
Zingiber rubensLiliopsidaBengal Ginger
Elettaria cardamomumLiliopsidaCardamom, Green cardamomइलाएची Elaichi
… further results
ClassTaxon detailsTaxon morphology details
LiliopsidaLiliopsida is considered the scientific name for monocots, but monocots may be called differently based on different taxonomic classification systems. Based on chloroplast DNA sequences, the divergence date between monocots and dicots is estimated to be ~200 million years, with a 40 million years uncertainty. There are ~50000-60000 species of monocots, with the largest family being Orchidaceae (orchids) consisting of ~20000 species. The true grasses (Poaceae) are the most economically important family, with 70% of the crops being cultivated belonging to this family.The following features distinguish monocots from dicots - 1) Three flower parts in each flower (vs 4-5 in dicots) 2) One pore in pollen (vs 3) 3) One cotyledon (vs 2) 4) Vascular bundles in stem scattered (vs concentric circles) 5) Adventitious roots (vs radicle-origin) 6) Parallel venation (vs reticulate) These broad distinguishing features indeed have some exceptions
SpeciesOrderCommon nameCommon Hindi name
Aloe veraAsparagalesAloe vera, Medicinal aloe, Burn plantGheekumari घीकुमारी
Allium sativumAsparagalesCultivated Garlicलेह्सन Lehsan
Urginea indicaAsparagalesindian squilljangli-piyaz
SpeciesFamilyCommon nameCommon Hindi name
Aloe veraXanthorrhoeaceaeAloe vera, Medicinal aloe, Burn plantGheekumari घीकुमारी
SpeciesGenusCommon nameCommon Hindi name
Aloe veraAloeAloe vera, Medicinal aloe, Burn plantGheekumari घीकुमारी

Based on classification

More details can be found in the Binomial Classification section.

Morphology from Encyclopedia of Life

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{{#EoLOnlyDescription:1085598}} 

General morphology

Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
General morphological features of the plant
Seed dispersal mechanism
Bloom type
Life cycle of the plant

How to identify this species

For a detailed description, refer to the General Morphology details above

Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
Type of plant
Plant height
Flower color
Flower shape
Floral symmetry
Phyllotaxy of leaves
Leaf shape
Is the leaf petiolated or sessile?
Is the leaf simple or compound?

Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
IUCN Conservation Status
Indian States in which the species has been documented
Locations at which the species has been documented
Biotic zones inhabited
Details about the habitat
Is this species native to India? No
Is the species indigenous/endemic to Sub-Himalayan regions?
Is the species indigenous/endemic to Western Ghats?
Is the species indigenous/endemic to Eastern Ghats?

Plant is not native or native status not filled in

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Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
Does this species have any medicinal use? Yes

Other plants of the same family having medicinal use:

Species nameCommon nameCommon Hindi nameFamilyAilment typeMedicinal use description
Aloe veraAloe vera, Medicinal aloe, Burn plantGheekumari घीकुमारीXanthorrhoeaceae
Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
General types of ailments this species is used for treating
Specific ailments for which the species is used
Medicinal systems which use this plant Ayurveda, Folk Medicine
Details of Medicinal use
Parts of the plant used for treatment
Names of some medicinal active compounds in this plant, if known.
Details of the active chemical compounds found in this plant
Is the molecular basis of the medicinal action known?
Details of molecular basis of action
Are the toxic effects of consumption of this plant known?
Details of the toxic effects of the plant species
Have there been validation/clinical studies related to this plant?
Details of the clinical studies related to the plant species

Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
Is this plant/plant-derived product used in food preparations?
Part(s) of the plant used in the food preparations
Details of use in food preparations
Does this species have any religious significance?
Religions which mention/give significance to this species
Religious occasions
Details of religious use

Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
Is this plant cultivated commercially in India? Yes
Uses for which the plant is commercially cultivated Medicinal use, Cosmetic use, Religious use
Plant parts of commercial value
Products where this plant is used User-reported
Description of use
States where this plant is cultivated commercially
Best period for planting this plant
Best period for harvesting this plant
Method of propagation
Water requirement of this plant
Pests and Diseases affecting this plant during cultivation
Other considerations while cultivating this plant


Pubmed Word cloud

This word cloud is obtained using the tool LigerCat by searching the Pubmed database. LigerCat builds the cloud from the most relevant Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Each term's relative size indicates how many times it appears in the PubMed search results. Click on a term to access the full LigerCat cloud, with live PubMed search capabilities. LigerCat has been developed for the Biology of Aging Project.

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  • If there is an error message below, it means that there is no retrievable information available on NCBI
  • If the number of nucleotide sequences is less than 100, very little genomic work has been done on this species. A respectable number of nucleotide sequences is above 10000.
  • Most of the nucleotide sequences may come from three sources:
  1. Studies on single genes, where people try to sequence genes such as some specific dehydrogenases important,say, for tannin production
  2. Sequences of Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer, whose sequence is used for generating molecular phylogenetic trees to establish species relationships
  3. Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) which can tell about which genes are present and expressed in the species at a particular time in the given tissue

{{#queryDB:taxonomy |Aloe vera }}

Parameter Value(s) References
See complete references in the References section at the end
Details of modern scientific knowledge available for this species
Are herbarium specimen available for this species?
Institutes having herbarium samples

References

EoL (Web): Encyclopedia of Life entry, Accessdate=2010-12-10


Flowers of India (Web): Flowers of India entry, Accessdate=2010-12-10


Wikipedia entry (Web): Wikipedia entry, Accessdate=2010-12-10


Himalaya (Web): Himalaya Healthcare Monographs, Accessdate=2010-12-10

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